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Dominican Republic
Chapter 5. Dominican Republic: National Security
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The Torre del Homenaje, Santo Domingo
BY TRADITION, THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC'S armed forces had been active
participants in the competition for national political power and often had
functioned as a praetorian guard for the government holding power. The military
continued to play these parts as the 1990s neared; however, it appeared that,
during the 1970s and the 1980s, successive governments had been able to reduce
the military's former role in national political life (most evident in the early
1960s) as self-appointed final arbiter of public policy.
The armed forces' reduced stature was made evident in the late 1980s by their
transformation into an interest group--albeit an important one--competing with
other such groups for power and influence within the nation's increasingly
pluralistic political system. It would be premature, however, to conclude that
the goal of developing an institutionalized and apolitical military
establishment had been completely realized by 1989. Individual military officers
continued to exert considerable political influence, and armed forces units
continued to be employed overtly during political campaigns. Nonetheless, the
military's explicit support of civilian governments during the 1980s suggested
that the armed forces had accepted the principle of civilian control.
As of mid-1989, the nation faced no credible external threat and only a
negligible insurgent threat. As a result, the armed forces were principally
employed in working with the National Police to maintain domestic order, chiefly
by helping to control demonstrations, riots, and other large-scale threats to
public order. Most such disturbances during the mid-1980s and the late 1980s
received their impetus from domestic austerity programs inaugurated because of
adverse international economic conditions. Public discontent over the
concomitant deterioration of living conditions for ordinary citizens, as well as
a decline in the level and the quality of public services, occasionally
manifested itself in widespread, and sometimes violent, outbreaks that resulted
in the intervention of the armed forces and police. The security forces were
also called out on several occasions to deal with violence associated with
political campaigning and elections.
National economic constraints during the mid-1980s and the late 1980s were
reflected in defense budgets, as spending on weapons replacement and
modernization was virtually eliminated. The military leadership apparently
acquiesced in this policy, despite its serious effects on readiness. This
acquiescence may have occurred because the armed forces' pay and benefits were
largely shielded from the cuts.
For administrative purposes, the armed forces were under thejurisdiction of
the secretary of state for the armed forces. Operational command of the
approximately 21,000-member military was exercised through the deputy
secretaries of state for the army, the navy, and the air force. The army was the
largest and the most influential of the three services, and it was equipped
mainly as a light infantry force. The navy was a coastal patrol force that
included a battalion of marines. The air force flew transport planes and
helicopters, and it had a small number of Cessna A-37B Dragonfly
counterinsurgency aircraft used mainly for patrol purposes.
The National Police was the principal agency charged with maintaining public
order. In addition to its paramilitary activities, it was organized to perform
routine patrols and other crime prevention and control functions. Approximately
half the members of the National Police were stationed in the capital. The rest
were assigned to posts throughout the remainder of the country.
Criminal justice was the responsibility of the national government. The
national judiciary, headed by the Supreme Court of Justice, administered the
country's criminal courts, and the attorney general oversaw the system of
government prosecutors. All penal and procedural statutes were issued by the
central government.
Data as of December 1989
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