Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
restitution to France for land taken from French colonists in order to gain international re-
cognition. Of course, France never paid restitution to former slaves for their ordeal.
After independence from Haiti in 1844, the new Dominican government feared its
neighbor would reinvade, so sought foreign assistance from France, Britain and Spain.
The DR eventually resubmitted to Spanish rule in 1861, and Spain immediately sent a
contingent of settlers to the Samaná area and reinforced the military installations on Cayo
Levantado, a large island (and site of a luxury all-inclusive resort today) near the mouth of
the bay.
Even after independence in 1864, the Península de Samaná remained a tempting prize
for other countries. Beginning in 1868, the US, under President Ulysses S Grant, sought to
purchase the peninsula from the DR in order to build a naval base there. Dominican pres-
ident and strongman Buenaventura Báez agreed to the sale in order to obtain the money
and weapons he needed to stay in power. However, the US Senate, under pressure from
Dominican exile groups and strong opposition from France and the UK, rejected the pro-
posal in 1871. A year later, Báez arranged to lease the area to the US-based Samaná Bay
Company for 99 years. To the relief of most Dominicans, the company fell behind on its
payments and Baez's successor, Ignacio María González, rescinded the contract in 1874.
The US revisited the idea of annexing Samaná in 1897 as the Spanish-American war
loomed, but decided to build its Caribbean base in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba after it quickly
defeated Spain.
German intentions toward the Península de Samaná are less clear, but US documents
from the 1870s suggest that Germany was also seeking to establish a military base in the
Caribbean. In 1916, during WWI, the US occupied the DR in part because it feared that
Germany was seeking to establish itself here.
Getting There & Around
Península de Samaná is accessible by air at Aeropuerto Internacional El Catey (AZS; oth-
erwise known as Aeropuerto Internacional Presidente Juan Bosch;
Click here
)
, on the
highway between Nagua and Sánchez. It receives international flights from New York on
(
www.westjet.com
)
. In high season, more cities in the US, Canada and Europe are serviced
through charter flights.
