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Dominican Republic Defense Spending
The military budget for 1987 was US$64 million. This
amount
represented approximately 11 percent of central government
expenditures, well in keeping with the levels maintained
over the
1975 to 1987 period, which ranged between 7.8 and 11.7
percent.
Defense expenditures, as a percentage of gross national
product
(GNP--see Glossary),
averaged between 1.2 and 1.9 percent
over
the 1975 to 1987 period. In comparison with other Latin
American
countries, the nation spent a lower than average
proportion of
GNP for defense.
The value of military spending in Dominican currency
rose
steadily during the late 1970s; it held at relatively
constant
rates during the early 1980s and then rose rapidly in the
late
1980s. These trends reflected the effects of inflation
more than
any real increase in military funding, however. When
adjusted for
inflation, the value of military spending actually fell at
least
20 percent during the 1980s. The effects of shrinking
financial
resources on military readiness were exacerbated by a
severe
decline in the value of the peso. This resulted in a
40-percent
drop in the United States dollar value of defense spending
from
1983 to 1987, which greatly weakened the nation's ability
to
finance the arms imports necessary for modernization, not
to
mention replacements and spare parts.
This problem was made even more acute by the fact that
most
of the military budget was allocated to current
operations. In
1986, for instance, capital expenditures accounted for
only 3.3
percent of total military spending. The low proportion of
the
budget devoted to funding capital improvements was
reflected in
the following statistic: during the 1980s, military
equipment
never accounted for more than 0.7 percent of total
imports. Until
the early 1980s, the Dominicans imported most of their
arms from
the United States. Although the United States continued to
be an
important source of military equipment, the nation's
principal
arms supplier during the 1982-1987 period was France.
Trujillo had established the nation's defense industry
just
after World War II. By the late 1950s, the Dominican
Republic had
the capacity to be nearly self-sufficient in small
weapons.
Although that capability had deteriorated by 1989, the
nation
still had a modest arms manufacturing industry, limited
mainly to
producing small vessels, ordnance, uniforms, and personal
equipment. The arsenal at San Cristóbal, twenty-four
kilometers
west of Santo Domingo, could produce carbines, machine
guns,
mortars, and antitank guns, and could also rebuild heavier
weapons and manufacture munitions. The nation produced
military
equipment for domestic use only, and it did not export any
arms.
The United States government provided the Dominicans
with
military assistance on a continuing basis. During the 1958
to
1988 period, assistance totalled more than US$15.6
billion. A
portion of these funds defrayed military training for
5,391 of
the nation's uniformed personnel during the same period.
During
the 1970s and the early 1980s, this assistance focused
mainly on
improving counterinsurgency capability. After that time,
United
States security assistance increasingly sought to foster
bilateral cooperation, especially in antinarcotics
programs. As
part of an overall decline in security assistance
worldwide,
United States military assistance to the nation fell
sharply
during the mid-1980s. Foreign military sales credits were
phased
out in 1986, and funds provided under the military
assistance
program were eliminated in 1988. Proposed United States
security
assistance for fiscal year
(FY--see Glossary) 1990
consisted
mainly of economic support funds that were intended to
help build
a stable political climate, foster economic growth, and
strengthen democratic institutions. Funds were also
allocated to
provide military training for ninety-two members of the
Dominican
armed forces, many in United States military schools.
Data as of December 1989
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