Mission of the Representative of the Secretary-General in the Dominican Republic (DOMREP)

International Operation Name: Mission of the Representative of the Secretary-General in the Dominican Republic (DOMREP)

International Operation Dates:  1965/05/14 - 1966/10/22

Mandating Organization: United Nations

Region Name:  Caribbean

Location:  Dominican Republic

Canadian Operation Name: Mission of the Representative of the Secretary-General in the Dominican Republic (DOMREP)

Canadian Operation Dates: 1965/06 – 1966/10/22

Mission Mandate: to assist the Dominican Republic by observing and reporting on a cease-fire and the general situation within that country.

(Security Council Resolution 203 (1965), 14 May 1965)

Mission Notes:

In late April 1965 the Dominican Republic erupted into civil war when the existing government was overthrown by a group seeking to reinstate a former president, who had himself been overthrown by a military coup in 1963. The crisis soon led to the existence of two rival governments, and violence in the capital city of Santo Domingo. On 28 April 1965, following the collapse of the Government and the outbreak of civil war, the United States dispatched troops to the country in order, as the United Nations Security Council was informed, to protect Americans there and to escort them to safety. At the request of the United States, the Council of the Organization of American States (OAS) met to consider the situation. On 29 April, it adopted a resolution calling for a ceasefire. On 23 May, the OAS established an Inter-American Peace Force in the Dominican Republic (IAPF), and by 26 June 1965, IAPF was composed of 1,700 troops from six Latin American countries, and 12,400 from the United States.

The United Nations' (UN) reaction to the crisis led to a Security Council Resolution on 14 May 1965 (SCR 203/1965) calling for a cease-fire between the rival groups, the intervention of a special representative of the UN Secretary-General to report on the situation, and the cooperation of all Dominicans to assist the special representative.

The Mission of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General in the Dominican Republic (DOMREP) consisted of a Military Adviser (MA) to the UN Secretary General and a total of three UN Military Observers (UNMOs), of whom two provided assistance to the military advisor at any one time.

The sole Canadian participant in DOMREP was Lieutenant-Colonel Paul A. Mayer, a member of the Canadian delegation with the United Nations in New York. He deployed to the Dominican Republic in June 1965 and remained there throughout the rest of the operation, eventually becoming the senior military adviser to the Special Representative of the Secretary General. Lieutenant-Colonel Mayer's tasks as military observer and military adviser included working to maintain the cease-fire between the belligerents, liaising with the military and reporting on human rights conditions and violations.

The Special Representative of the Secretary-General and the peacekeepers were successful in assisting the Dominican Republic resolve the political and military crisis. A provisional government acceptable to all parties was put in place and the American military forces and those of some Latin American allies from the Organization of American States were finally withdrawn in late September 1966. As a result, DOMREP came to an end on 22 October 1966.