DR: Dominican military denies arming Haitian rebels

Armed Forces Minister Jose Miguel Soto Jimenez denied the Dominican military had purchased weapons from the United States and intervened in the affairs of a foreign country. He was replying to a statement by US Representative Donald Payne (D-NJ) on the alleged purchase of 3,500 weapons made by the DR in the United States. Soto Jimenez says these weapons were purchased by private companies, and did not include war weapons. He denied the Dominican armed forces has supported any rebel groups or governments. Haitian rebel leader Louis Jodel Chamblain told the international press that his troops had received training in the Dominican Republic. US press sources have said that weapons used by these paramilitary forces were similar to those given to the Dominican military by the US.

So, which Dominican private company purchased the weapons? Who trained the rebels in Santo Domingo? How could rebel groups be training in Santo Domingo without the knowledge of the Dominican government? What does the DR stand to gain if Aristide is out of power? If U.S. Rep. Payne claims the Dominican government purchased 3,500 weapons, whose signature was on the arms requisition invoice? Did the DR play a role in the rebellion in Haiti, or did the U.S., as some claim?