The Saona “Base”

For some reason, Dominicans tend to lean toward exaggeration and alarmism. The news issued erroneously, inadvertently or on purpose, announcing the construction of a naval base in the United States on Sanoa Island, has served as a broth for a lively novel involving the usual characters. At a cost of $1.5 million, it doesn’t appear to be a project of significant size; it’s barely classified as a “base.” Clarifying that it would pertain to the Dominican Navy has not been enough to stop the garment-rending of the pseudo-patriots.

It’s not a secret to anyone that Hispaniola is an important bridge for drug trafficking. This is painful, as this provides a timeless reminder of how little control the Dominican Republic possesses over its borders, whether on land or in sea. There’s also little that has been done historically to reverse this situation.

That staggering deficit makes it perfectly possible for whichever “invading force” to cross our maritime borders, as if owning our territory — and Dominicans don’t learn of this until those invaders land on our beaches and we drop dead.

I find our sovereignty undoubtedly unfortunate. We do not have the capacity even to secure our own borders. There’s that, and the U.S. is financing part of this project. It won’t be the first type of support of this nature that we receive from our Northern allies; personally, I hope it’s not the last.

With an investment of just $1.5 million, cheaper than 3 Tomahawk missiles or some apartments in our capital, it is clear that the magnitude of what will be built is barely significant. It certainly is different from the enormous naval bases that many would surely imagine upon hearing of this construction. The environmental impact here would be close to zero. If any criticism could be made to the project, it would deal with the idea that it doesn’t appear to be large enough to introduce substantial changes in the short term for the current state of Saona, as well as a good part of our coasts in the east.

With the clarification of the U.S. embassy and our own navy, this issue should have been buried. But, as to be expected, Dominicans are dealing with the issue without making any sense, again with the Academy of Science and UASD leading the circus in such a ridiculous and unscientific way, like with the poisonings in Barrick Gold.

If any issue can be drawn from this, it would be the poor investment in our armed forces and our debilitating capacity to defend our territory. But no, we are in the Dominican Republic.