Sunday April 21, 2024, a report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), presented in Copenhagen, revealed that the Dominican Republic increased its military spending by 14% in 2023 due to the worsening of gang violence in Haiti.

"The use of the military to quell gang violence has been a growing trend in the region for years, as governments are unable to solve the problem with conventional means or prefer immediate and often more violent responses," explains the SIPRI.

Over the last 7 years, the military budget of our Dominican neighbors has increased from 398.5 million US dollars to nearly 1 billion US dollars in 2023 (988.7 million) [0,7% of GDP]

The budgets for land, air and maritime defense expenditures which were increased, in accordance with the military command, allowed the Dominican Armed Forces to modernize their equipment, improve the training of staff and further guarantee the defense of sovereignty and national security.

A significant portion of the budget of the Army of the Dominican Republic is intended for surveillance and security of the land border, which they say must be periodically reinforced with hundreds of soldiers and equipment (more than 1 million dollars per day)

Over the past two years, defense spending has increased from US$846.2 million to US$988.7 million in 2023, an amount which represents for comparison 41% of Haiti's national budget https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-40624-haiti-budget-2023-2024-the-council-of-ministers-votes-a-budget-of-32064-billion-gdes-an-increase-of-20.html . President Abinader turned his attention to military institutions, providing new ground equipment, cutting-edge technology and two fleets of aircraft to the Air Force.

Learn more about SIPRI :

Founded in 1966, SIPRI is an independent institute dedicated to research on conflict, armaments, arms control and disarmament. It provides data, analyzes and recommendations, based on open sources, to policy makers, researchers, the media and any interested public.

SL/ HaitiLibre