The Navy of the Dominican Republic celebrated its 182nd anniversary of founding on Thursday with an academic panel focused on the beginning of the institution, which dates back to the times of the Dominican independence struggle, as the panelists agreed.
When the Dominican Republic achieved its independence, in 1884, after 22 years of Haitian occupation, the security institutions (land and maritime) of that time were founded: the Army and the Navy (old name).
This is how the Dominican historian Juan Daniel Balcácer explained it: “After the proclamation of February 27, 1844, all institutions were born. In the first 20 years of our Republic we spent concentrating all the energies of the State in the defense of national independence.”
“And in that defense, the Army, the Navy, above all, saw a responsibility to carry out and preserve the Duarte legacy” and national sovereignty, he added.
Balcácer participated in the panel along with the Minister of Justice, Antoliano Peralta; the president of the Duartiano Institute, Wilson Gómez Ramírez; and the historian Miguel de Camps Jiménez. The conversation was moderated by Rear Admiral Juan Gilberto Núñez Abreu, inspector general of the institution.
The panel took place in the “La Marina” room of the “27 de Febrero” Naval Base of the Navy. The activity was also attended by Vice Admiral Juan Crisóstomo Martínez, commanding general.
The speakers highlighted the role of the Navy in the consolidation of the State, as well as its permanent adaptation to new challenges in terms of maritime security and defense, as explained by the institution in a statement.
Subsequently, Minister Peralta Romero spoke about the newly created Ministry of Justice, and stressed its importance for strengthening the judicial system and the rule of law in the Dominican Republic.
In the history of the navy, a trilogy of naval heroes emerges who gave life to the institution during the first Republic in 1844: the commanders Juan Bautista Cambiaso, Juan Bautista Maggiolo and Juan Alejandro Acosta.
Cambiaso was the founder of the National Naval Navy and was responsible for receiving the task of organizing the National Navy from the Central Government Board, according to historical reviews of the Navy itself.
Cambiaso, together with Maggiolo and Acosta during the 1845 campaign, commanded the “Cibao Corvette, Flagship” squadron, and established the naval blockade of the northern coast of Haiti, thus triumphing the National Army in the Battle of Beller.
On the eve of a battle that would take place with the Haitian troops on the night of February 27, 1844, in the absence of the Father of the Nation, Juan Pablo Duarte, his disciples and supporters in the cause of the separation of Haiti, proclaimed national Independence at the Puerta de la Misericordia and the Puerta del Conde.
The Central Government Board chaired by Tomás Bobadilla ordered the seizure of the Port of Santo Domingo and all Haitian vessels, and at the same time a commission was appointed to immediately leave for Curacao, aboard the ship “LEONOR” under the command of Acosta, to search for Duarte, this being the first official vessel of the Republic and the first unit that flew the Dominican flag overseas.
