The weapons and munitions for defending the Dominican Republic
According to the SIPRI, between 2006 and 2010, the Dominican Republic spent 0.7% of GDFP on military
Km 25 Duarte Highway. At the end of a dusty road, which borders the 16 August Military Base, there is the warehouse of the weapons that are legally imported into the country by the Armed Forces, the National Police, the gun dealers and other institutions.
"Everything you see (indicating the trees) is camouflage. Within those trees we have weapons depots in containers and underground," answered the general of the Parachute Brigade, Bienvenido Cordero Batista, who is in charge of War Materials.
The general referred to a parcel of land of approximately two square kilometers, which is watched over by a contingent of more than 100 men, wherein-he said-lies a large part of the military stores of ammunition and weapons of the country and where entry is not allowed without authorization. "Here we control all of the guns, ammunition and military supplies," he says.
In this place, far from the noise of the city, they distribute the weapons to the Armed Forces and the National Police and their subdivisions, with the Army taking about 60%. General Cordero says that weapons are not assigned through "friendship" and that "if that was done before, at this moment it does not exist."
The 30,000 men assigned to the military units and the more than 34,000 police of the country are each assigned a weapon, depending on the service they represent. Nonetheless, many active officers and some in retirement have more that the rules allow for, because "their physical integrity requires more equipment for their defense." And this in spite of the fact that two months ago the general staff is requiring the return of the excess.
"We have the weapons organized by caliber: light weapons, small arms, and high-power calibers; and to our military personnel we generally assign a light weapon for personal security," explained General Cordero.
Among the light weapons used are the 9mm-the most popular-and the .45 cal, with the weapons most preferred by the military and Police being Glock, designed in Austria, and the Taurus, made in Brazil.
When things get heated due to the strike calls, or general strikes or some other event against public order, the personnel are assigned long weapons, such as M-16 or AK-47s or M-60 machine guns.
There are much more lethal weapons than this, but the military does not give out more details.
For national security, the military is discrete about giving details about the kinds of weapons in their inventories, the amounts and the number. Nonetheless, Diario Libre was able to get inside the warehouse that the Navy has at the Naval Base in East Santo Domingo.
Shotguns, seized weapons, bullets, riot gear, and other military equipment are stored in dark rooms. But this is not all. At the national lever, the Navy-that has nearly 11,000 members-has 10,500 M-16s, 1000 Ingram machine guns (basically MAC 10s), 5,000 shotguns, 12,500 pistols, and several cannons, among other equipment.
How much does the state spend?
The information is guarded. Nonetheless, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), considered to be the most precise center of world monitoring on military budgets, has details in its data base published on its webpage, that indicate that from 2006 to 2010 the Dominican Republic spent 0.7% of GDP on military expenditures, which include the maintenance of the Armed Forces and the purchase of armaments.
Translated into dollars, the expenditure has gone up since the decade of the 90s. In 1990, it was US$93.6 million, going to US$175 in 1994, UA$345 million in 2000, US$296 million in 2006 and US$325 million in 2011.
The main supplier of weapons to the country is the United States. According to what General Cordero recalls, the last sizable acquisition carried out by the Dominican government was done in 2003. That year, according to SIPRI, the military expenditure was US$280 or 0.8% of GDP.
For the Public Safety Plan, recently announced by the government, they acquired 500 Taurus pistols for the personnel of the National Police.
The military expenditure might be modest, if you take into account the reports from the United Nations regarding the international standards in this area, which recommend that this not be more than 1.0% of GDP. If the DR is compared to the other countries in Latin America, it is among the lowest spenders, with Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Chile and Venezuela among those who spend the most.
International analysts say that the arms race has once again become a priority in Latin America.
No war, more weapons
At the present time the threats to the Dominican Republic are not war. Its closest neighbor, Haiti, disbanded its army in 1995 and although its current president announced in 2011 it reestablishment, this has still not come about. The high military commands agree on the fact that, if it should occur, it will take a lot of time for the Haitians to reach the armament levels of the Dominican military. Then, if there is no danger of war on the horizon, why the weapons?
The armed forces no longer are worried about buying armored cars or tanks. The weapons, munitions and explosive are focused on the challenges from drug traffickers, criminals, organized crime and terrorism. The fact is that the purchase of military equipment and the kind of equipment to be acquired will always depend on the degree of threats the state has to face. In this country, for example, it was understood that it was necessary to buy the Super Tucano airplanes in order to deal with drug trafficking, and this caused the increase in maritime traffic of drugs.
Both the person in charge of War Materials, as well as the chiefs of Operations of the Armed Forces and the Navy, say that the country has sufficient weapons to compete with those of the drug traffickers. And this is true in spite of the fact that the drug networks supply themselves with the best technologies for their operations and in fact the Mexican cartels are obtaining military grade weapons from arsenals left over from civil wars and conflicts in Central America, according to the 2011 report from the then-commanding general of the United States Southern Command, General Douglas Fraser.
"What we have is sufficient," says General Cordero. In order to prove their current situation, he recalled that in February they destroyed 10,300 obsolete weapons, such as Mauser rifles, San Cristobal machine guns (manufactured in San Cristobal during the Trujillo years) and 76 mm shells from 1958 and 1963. In April they will do the same with another 18,000. The United National donated an electric guillotine that destroys 800 weapons an hour and an oven that consumes munitions.
"We have weapons for a long time and to defend national sovereignty," says General Cordero.
"Everything you see (indicating the trees) is camouflage. Within those trees we have weapons depots in containers and underground," answered the general of the Parachute Brigade, Bienvenido Cordero Batista, who is in charge of War Materials.
The general referred to a parcel of land of approximately two square kilometers, which is watched over by a contingent of more than 100 men, wherein-he said-lies a large part of the military stores of ammunition and weapons of the country and where entry is not allowed without authorization. "Here we control all of the guns, ammunition and military supplies," he says.
In this place, far from the noise of the city, they distribute the weapons to the Armed Forces and the National Police and their subdivisions, with the Army taking about 60%. General Cordero says that weapons are not assigned through "friendship" and that "if that was done before, at this moment it does not exist."
The 30,000 men assigned to the military units and the more than 34,000 police of the country are each assigned a weapon, depending on the service they represent. Nonetheless, many active officers and some in retirement have more that the rules allow for, because "their physical integrity requires more equipment for their defense." And this in spite of the fact that two months ago the general staff is requiring the return of the excess.
"We have the weapons organized by caliber: light weapons, small arms, and high-power calibers; and to our military personnel we generally assign a light weapon for personal security," explained General Cordero.
Among the light weapons used are the 9mm-the most popular-and the .45 cal, with the weapons most preferred by the military and Police being Glock, designed in Austria, and the Taurus, made in Brazil.
When things get heated due to the strike calls, or general strikes or some other event against public order, the personnel are assigned long weapons, such as M-16 or AK-47s or M-60 machine guns.
There are much more lethal weapons than this, but the military does not give out more details.
For national security, the military is discrete about giving details about the kinds of weapons in their inventories, the amounts and the number. Nonetheless, Diario Libre was able to get inside the warehouse that the Navy has at the Naval Base in East Santo Domingo.
Shotguns, seized weapons, bullets, riot gear, and other military equipment are stored in dark rooms. But this is not all. At the national lever, the Navy-that has nearly 11,000 members-has 10,500 M-16s, 1000 Ingram machine guns (basically MAC 10s), 5,000 shotguns, 12,500 pistols, and several cannons, among other equipment.
How much does the state spend?
The information is guarded. Nonetheless, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), considered to be the most precise center of world monitoring on military budgets, has details in its data base published on its webpage, that indicate that from 2006 to 2010 the Dominican Republic spent 0.7% of GDP on military expenditures, which include the maintenance of the Armed Forces and the purchase of armaments.
Translated into dollars, the expenditure has gone up since the decade of the 90s. In 1990, it was US$93.6 million, going to US$175 in 1994, UA$345 million in 2000, US$296 million in 2006 and US$325 million in 2011.
The main supplier of weapons to the country is the United States. According to what General Cordero recalls, the last sizable acquisition carried out by the Dominican government was done in 2003. That year, according to SIPRI, the military expenditure was US$280 or 0.8% of GDP.
For the Public Safety Plan, recently announced by the government, they acquired 500 Taurus pistols for the personnel of the National Police.
The military expenditure might be modest, if you take into account the reports from the United Nations regarding the international standards in this area, which recommend that this not be more than 1.0% of GDP. If the DR is compared to the other countries in Latin America, it is among the lowest spenders, with Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Chile and Venezuela among those who spend the most.
International analysts say that the arms race has once again become a priority in Latin America.
No war, more weapons
At the present time the threats to the Dominican Republic are not war. Its closest neighbor, Haiti, disbanded its army in 1995 and although its current president announced in 2011 it reestablishment, this has still not come about. The high military commands agree on the fact that, if it should occur, it will take a lot of time for the Haitians to reach the armament levels of the Dominican military. Then, if there is no danger of war on the horizon, why the weapons?
The armed forces no longer are worried about buying armored cars or tanks. The weapons, munitions and explosive are focused on the challenges from drug traffickers, criminals, organized crime and terrorism. The fact is that the purchase of military equipment and the kind of equipment to be acquired will always depend on the degree of threats the state has to face. In this country, for example, it was understood that it was necessary to buy the Super Tucano airplanes in order to deal with drug trafficking, and this caused the increase in maritime traffic of drugs.
Both the person in charge of War Materials, as well as the chiefs of Operations of the Armed Forces and the Navy, say that the country has sufficient weapons to compete with those of the drug traffickers. And this is true in spite of the fact that the drug networks supply themselves with the best technologies for their operations and in fact the Mexican cartels are obtaining military grade weapons from arsenals left over from civil wars and conflicts in Central America, according to the 2011 report from the then-commanding general of the United States Southern Command, General Douglas Fraser.
"What we have is sufficient," says General Cordero. In order to prove their current situation, he recalled that in February they destroyed 10,300 obsolete weapons, such as Mauser rifles, San Cristobal machine guns (manufactured in San Cristobal during the Trujillo years) and 76 mm shells from 1958 and 1963. In April they will do the same with another 18,000. The United National donated an electric guillotine that destroys 800 weapons an hour and an oven that consumes munitions.
"We have weapons for a long time and to defend national sovereignty," says General Cordero.