RD Deputies Back Arrival of US Warships to Haiti Amid Security Crisis

They consider it a forceful message against the gangs that dominate a large part of the territory

Santo Domingo.-  Faced with the arrival this Wednesday of United States warships to Haiti, deputies from the Dominican Republic supported the measure, amid the offensive against gangs and the persistent political instability affecting that country.

Congressman Ignacio Aracena, President of the Standing Committee on Foreign Relations and International Cooperation of the Chamber of Deputies, applauded the initiative, considering that Haiti needs to restore order, and stated that it is a forceful message directed at the criminal gangs that control large areas of Haitian territory.

"We congratulate this initiative that seeks to stabilize the region in a country that is dominated by criminal gangs and is used as a bridge for drug trafficking and arms smuggling. For a long time, we demanded that the International Community move forward with a more direct action plan for the benefit of the stabilization of our Haitian neighbors, in that sense we have to applaud all initiatives that are beneficial," Aracena expressed. In that sense, he maintained that Haiti needs the great powers to act with the best intentions to facilitate the return to democracy, in a context marked by the expiration, on February 7th, of the deadline granted to the transitional authorities to organize new elections to elect a legitimate president. Likewise, deputy Tobías Crespo considers that the Haitian issue is worrying throughout the region and these ships are a response from the International Community due to the levels of insecurity in the face of the incidence of gangs.

"I believe the country deserves a response from the International Community because there have already been other efforts and there was no way to control security in Haiti," he pointed out.

While the legislator Charlie Mariotti Paz, exhorted that the country must remain vigilant because the presence of the ships could generate an exodus of "Haitian terrorists" to the Dominican Republic.

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"Our desire is for Haiti to stabilize; it is in our interest for Haiti to do well so that its citizens can move forward in their country," Mariotti added. The ships USS Stockdale, USCGC Stone and USCGC Diligence arrived in the bay of Port-au-Prince as part of the operation “Southern Spear”, the US embassy in Haiti reported via its X account, specifying that the deployment was carried out by order of the Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, and that their presence reflects the firm commitment of the United States to security, stability and a better future for the Haitian people.

The so-called "Southern Spear" operation, announced in November by Hegseth, is part of the deployment of U.S. warships and military aircraft in Latin America to combat, according to Washington, the vessels used for drug trafficking by "narco-terrorist" cartels.