A UNITED States ambassador has explained that a United States warship, scheduled to stop in Jamaica and other Caribbean islands, is not part of any attempt to establish a military base in the region.
Hans Hertell, U.S. Ambassador to the Dominican Republic, explained this week that the warship, USS Stout, currently docked at Caucedo Port to the east of Santo Domingo, has been in the Caribbean on other occasions, and that this visit is part of an exercise that is being carried out with the Dominican Navy and others in the region.
DISMISSED COMPLAINT
Hertell dismissed Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's complaint that U.S. ships crossing through the Caribbean Sea within the 'Society of the Americas Operation' are part of a plan to establish a military base in the region, as reported by Diario Libre.
"We are here at the invitation of our associates and friends in the Dominican Republic, and nothing can be considered to represent a violation of any agreement," stated the diplomat on the arrival of the USS Stout, which will stay in the Dominican port for three days. The ship had previously stopped in Curacao, and is scheduled to go to Honduras, Nicaragua, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Aruba and St Kitts, after it leaves the Dominican Republic. There are approximately 300 sailors on board the USS Stout, three of whom are of Dominican origin.
