All amounts in U.S. dollars. Numbers in italics are estimates, usually based on the closest year for which data are available.

All amounts in U.S. dollars. Numbers in italics are estimates, usually based on the closest year for which data are available.

All amounts in U.S. dollars.

All amounts in U.S. dollars.

Document: Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs Program and Budget Guide, Fiscal Year 2010

Program: International Narcotics Control Economic Aid

FY 2010 Program

Money Laundering

Projects will focus on building the capacity of the Attorney General's office to investigate and prosecute money laundering and enhance the Dominican government's ability to seize assets, including provision of a multi-module money laundering course for investigators, prosecutors and judges. Assistance will be provided to an ongoing program to support the Dominican Financial Intelligence Unit and other efforts to enable the Dominican Republic to again achieve Egmont Certification as well as for training of money sniffing dogs and customs personnel dedicated to search and recovery of proceeds from narcotics trafficking.

Document: Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs Program and Budget Guide, Fiscal Year 2010

Program: International Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement

Program Objectives and Performance Indicators

Enhance existing land and maritime law enforcement action against narco-traffickers.

• Increased number of interdictions and quantity of drugs seized.

• Increased number of arrests and successful prosecutions of drug traffickers.

Document: PANAMAX: Teamwork against terrorism

Program: Exercises

Fuerzas Aliadas PANAMAX is an annual exercise tailored to the defense of the Panama Canal against transnational threats. PANAMAX 2009 is designed to address a spectrum of possible threats, including terrorist acts against the canal, to ensure a multinational force can respond to any request for support from the Government of Panama while respecting national sovereignty.

Fuerzas Aliadas PANAMAX is an annual exercise tailored to the defense of the Panama Canal against transnational threats. PANAMAX 2009 is designed to address a spectrum of possible threats, including terrorist acts against the canal, to ensure a multinational force can respond to any request for support from the Government of Panama while respecting national sovereignty.

Ultimately Fuerzas Aliadas PANAMAX is about working together and learning from each other in order to promote trust and foster willingness for continued collaboration and teamwork. PANAMAX offers the opportunity to strengthen the ability to operate together which ultimately strengthens security of the hemisphere.

Participants and observers include forces from Argentina, Belize, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, the United States and Uruguay. The ground portion of the exercise is being conducted at Fort Sam Houston and Camp Bullis, both in San Antonio from Sept. 13-21.

Document: Opening Ceremony Kicks Off FA PANAMAX 2009

Program: Exercises

More than 4,500 personnel from 20 countries began a 12-day exercise here Friday to train in a joint, multinational effort to ensure the security of the Panama Canal.

FA PANAMAX 2009 is one of the largest multinational training exercises in the world, and is taking place in the waters off the coasts of Panama from Sept. 11-22 with the participation of civil and military forces.

More than 20 vessels and a dozen aircraft are involved in the exercises. Participants are focusing on a variety of responses to any request from the Government of Panama to protect and guarantee safe passage of traffic through the Panama Canal, ensure its neutrality, and respect national sovereignty. Simulated ground forces are also participating at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas.

The FA PANAMAX 2009 exercise scenario includes sea-based training devoted to maritime interdiction operations, including visit, boarding, search and seizure. Virtual land-based training in San Antonio, Texas, will focus on command and control, stability operations, humanitarian assistance and disaster-relief operations.

FA PANAMAX 2009 participating nations include: Argentina, Belize, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, United States and Uruguay. France and Mexico are scheduled to participate as observers. The Conference of Central American Armies, the Organization of American States and the United Nations will also participate.

Document: U.S. Army Leads Multinational Peacekeeping Exercise in Guatemala

Program: Exercises

The U.S. Army is working hand-in-hand with the Central American Armed Forces Conference to enhance stability and cooperation throughout the region with their annual Peace Keeping Operations Exercise here.

The current three-week-long exercise consists of various training venues and culminates with a final command-post exercise Aug. 15-17 where students will get a chance to put into practice all the information and skills they learned during the annual Peace Keeping Operations Exercise

This is the third and final phase of annual exercises designed specifically for this region.

The conference, known as CFAC, is comprised of The Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Honduras and was established approximately a decade ago.

This annual exercise equips CFAC troops with the knowledge and tools to effectively execute peacekeeping missions and respond to natural disasters, within United Nations standards, throughout the region.

During this 16-day phase, a class consisting of 86 students representing the various countries, learn everything from convoy and security operations to medical evacuation and public affairs procedures all within United Nations guidelines.

The exercise took approximately 3 months of coordination and planning and the team is already looking to plan future exercises, said Kempf. “Next year, the focus country will be Chile, and in 2011, it will be in Brazil.”

The overall goal is to enhance interoperability and improve security and cooperation of the people in the region

Document: Training Strengthens Dominican Republic, U.S. Partnerships

Program: Exercises

The purpose of this JCET was to strengthen the partnership between the United States and the Dominican Republic Navy. This training exercise is held annually at the invitation of the Dominican Republic and focuses on supporting their counter-drug mission.
...
This course covers basic seamanship skills, including everything from towing the boats on trailers to inserting and extracting forces on the ground. Previous U.S. engagement with the Dominicans has included Enduring Friendship, a USSOUTHCOM-spearheaded multi-year program that aims to lay the groundwork for a regional security network of maritime patrollers by providing seven nations´ improved communications systems and high-speed interceptor boats. These four craft, delivered in 2007 as part of the Enduring Friendship initiative, have been augmented by two more boarding craft this year, to vastly enhance the Dominican´s capability to patrol their waters.

Document: FY 2010 Congressional Budget Justification for Foreign Operations

The U.S. foreign assistance program in the Dominican Republic is a comprehensive effort that helps build and sustain a democratic, well-governed state that responds to the needs of its people, reduces widespread poverty, and conducts itself responsibly in the international arena. To this end, the program supports efforts to improve key Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) indicators in good governance, health and education, and economic growth. U.S. foreign assistance strengthens the U.S. partnership with the Government of the Dominican Republic (GODR) and helps improve governance and access to justice; implements the U.S.-Central America-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR), while helping small businesses and rural communities take advantage of trade and income generation opportunities; protects the environment; and provides a more equitable distribution of quality health and education services.

Peace and Security: U.S. assistance will continue to support Dominican military efforts to address ungoverned spaces, both land and maritime, through capacity building as well as train-and-equip initiatives such as Operation Enduring Friendship. In addition, security assistance will help foster close cooperation on a range of key issues, including terrorism, counter-narcotics, weapons, and illegal immigration, by enhancing the Dominican military’s interoperability with U.S. and regional forces, and its interdiction, disaster relief, and peacekeeping operations capabilities. Programs implemented through the Merida Initiative will help ensure that the Dominican law enforcement, military, and judicial systems more effectively address crime, terrorism, drug trafficking, human trafficking, and money laundering. The trans-shipment of illegal narcotics through the Dominican Republic continues to be a significant problem with amounts expected to increase from 220 metric tons in 2008 to 240 metric tons in 2009. With greater increases anticipated in the future, this situation leads to increased crime and border concerns. U.S. assistance will continue to support Dominican border authorities in defining proper roles for the military, interdicting illegal migrants, fighting illicit drug operations, and coordinating natural disaster response efforts.

Governing Justly and Democratically: The United States will continue to support the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the judiciary, the National Police, and the Public Defenders Office to implement the criminal procedures code, prosecute crimes more effectively, reduce corruption, and make justice services more accessible, timely, and responsive. The United States will also work with appropriate government agencies and civil society organizations to increase access to public information, strengthen oversight mechanisms, and promote a more democratic political party system with a particular focus on transparent and accountable financing. These activities complement those supported by the Merida Initiative. Additionally, U.S. assistance will continue to strengthen civil society organizations that monitor the transparency of public institutions, expand citizen participation in social auditing of public funds, and promote media reporting of governance and transparency issues.

Investing in People: The United States will work to mitigate the effects of poverty and help build a more equitable society by improving access to quality health care and basic education, while encouraging greater grassroots support for investing in these areas. Through partnerships with the GODR, U.S. programs will support Dominican health sector reform, including the implementation of a social health insurance program. FY 2010 resources will contribute to improvements in national maternal and child health and tuberculosis programs, with emphasis on pre-natal, obstetric, and post-natal care, neonatal health, health systems, and multidrug-resistant tuberculosis, as well as improvements in the country's immunization coverage. U.S. assistance will continue to promote quality basic education, in both urban and rural areas, through improved education policy reform and implementation. U.S. assistance will also finance and promote the use of innovative education activities targeted to at-risk youth. Specific activities will support the GODR Secretariat of Education’s efforts to improve the quality of education by providing teacher training in math and reading at the primary level along with learning opportunities for out-of-school children and at-risk youth.

Linkages with the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR): The Dominican Republic will continue to receive significant support to build partnerships that provide integrated prevention, care, and treatment programs throughout the country and support for orphans and vulnerable children.

Economic Growth: U.S. assistance complements efforts by the GODR and other donors to streamline the regulatory environment and implement CAFTA-DR to generate broad-based, sustainable economic growth. U.S. programs will continue to address disincentives that inhibit private sector investment, innovation, and development. These programs also target improvements in the competitiveness of small businesses, particularly those negatively affected by CAFTA-DR. Specific activities will support potential Dominican exporters diversify crops, increase rural value chain productivity, identify new markets, and develop marketing strategies that take advantage of increased opportunities for local and international trade. Activities will also support the enforcement of Dominican environmental laws and regulations at the local level by helping municipal environmental units develop and enforce local ordinances. In addition, U.S. assistance promotes efforts to protect and conserve biodiversity through improved management of Dominican protected areas, watersheds, and coastal resources.

Document: USNS Comfort Completes Humanitarian Mission in Dominican Republic

Program: Humanitarian and Civic Assistance

The Military Sealift Command hospital ship USNS Comfort (T-AH 20) raised anchor and departed Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, May 2.

During their time in Dominican Republic, the medical staff on board Comfort saw 11,050 patients, performed 206 surgical operations, filled 18,608 prescriptions, distributed 2,972 pairs of glasses, conducted 5,508 dental services and performed more than 8,000 veterinary services.

Navy Seabees aboard Comfort spent more than 100 hours building a 900-square-foot refrigerated storage room for the National Reference Laboratory that will be used for blood storage and a 15-by-15-foot classroom at the Otto Martinez schoolhouse.

Document: Comfort Personnel Offer Water Sanitation Training in Dominican Republic

Program: Humanitarian and Civic Assistance

A representative of the U.S. Public Health Service taught Project HOPE nurses from the Dominican Republic and other local health care professionals about proper water sanitation procedures April 25 as part of Continuing Promise 2009.

This information will help prepare local medical providers to both educate others about proper water sanitation and to acquire and treat water themselves.

Some of the topics covered in the class were sources of water, how to decontaminate water and how to prevent contamination.

Document: Dominican Dental Patients Treated on USNS Comfort

Program: Humanitarian and Civic Assistance

The dental team on board hospital ship USNS Comfort (T-AH 20) welcomed its first group of Dominican patients to receive dental care on the ship April 26.

The group of three children required dental care which could not be rendered at the medical sites set up on shore by Comfort. Dental is one of the many services offered as part of the Continuing Promise 2009 mission.

The dental team will continue to see patients at the CP09 medical sites in the Dominican Republic until May 1. They will proceed to Antigua and Barbuda as part of CP09’s four month humanitarian and civic assistance mission in Latin America and Caribbean.