[DR1] Ambassador explains warship visit

[NewsWhore]

United States Ambassador Hans Hertell explained yesterday 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. Hertell dismissed Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's complaint that US 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 upon the arrival of the 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 DR. There are approximately 300 sailors on board the USS Stout, three of whom are of Dominican origin.

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