27942: Severe:(pub) US Activity in Dominican Border Region (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Constantin Severe <csevere@hotmail.com>

Medics to build clinics, train in Dominican Republic

Associated Press
2/10/06

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic — Thousands of U.S. troops were headed to the 
Dominican Republic to build medical clinics and conduct medical training, an 
official said Thursday.
Some 100 troops were near the southern city of Barahona, close to the Haitian 
border, to work with the Dominican military on the projects, said Army 
spokesman Robert Appin.

About 3,500 soldiers would join the effort, part of “New Horizons” — a Latin 
American aid program the U.S. military has run since 1998, Appin said.

The work runs through May 22. Some 450 U.S. troops will be in the Dominican 
Republic at any one time, Appin said.

Dominican troops, engineers and doctors will work with the U.S. soldiers, said 
Dominican military spokesman Maj. Ivo Rijo Cedeno.

The U.S. Southern Command runs the aid program, which deploys troops to build 
roads, schools, clinics and sanitation systems in Latin America. Other projects 
were scheduled this year in Honduras, Peru and El Salvador, Appin said.