DR: The Dominican hand in Haitian affairs

Fabio R. Herrera-Minino speculates today in Hoy newspaper that the preparation of former Cap Haitien police chief, Guy Phillippe, and his group in Dominican territory is evidence he had the backing of people in power in Santo Domingo. The Mejia administration granted political asylum to Phillippe after his exile from Haiti in 2000. Herrera-Minino writes that the "modern weapons and equipment, which were not hidden for more than 10 years, shows that the aim is to provoke a severe crisis in the neighboring state that could involve us, which, 80 days before the elections, would be another blunder the government's re-election team has accustomed us to." Herrera-Minino writes that in view of their low ratings in the electoral polls, the government "would do anything to:avoid submitting itself to the scrutiny of the public, after having ridden the crests of power and misspending all the national resources, the lack of which the government has tried to compensate for with the mad race of taking on loans that have enveloped us, increasing the foreign debt to unsustainable levels for the economy of more than US$8 billion."

It's all about electionyear politics, apparently. See this also.

A Diario Libre editorial written by Anibal Castro says today that it is highly suspicious that, despite the supposedly efficient vigilance of the Dominican border by the Armed Forces, Guy Philippe was able to leave DR soil to emerge as the commander of the rebel Haitian forces. This border has been strengthened by an aggressive and generous program of equipment and supply purchases and an intellectual minister (Lt. General Soto Jimenez) who is well-versed in modern military strategies and tactics and has clear ideas on national defense. It's therefore suspicious, says the editorial, how, all of a sudden, Philippe and his men find weapons of war to carry out a successful, violent offensive in the north of the country. It's suspicious that a promo that injures Dominican sovereignty that circulated in the frontier last October is back again to give the impression of crisis in the neighboring country. It's suspicious that the official media highlight with frequency and alarm what is occurring in Haiti and that the military chiefs travel so often to the frontier in a way that seems to seek to divert the attention from the many problems of the country and redirect it to the border.