Relief operations following the 1987 earthquake
Courtesy United States Agency for International Development, Office of United States Foreign Disaster Assistance (LeVonne Harrell)

The armed forces actively engaged in various civic-action programs. Army engineer battalions played a leading part in road construction between the remote areas of the Oriente and the more populated regions of the country (see Transportation , ch. 3). They repaired and restored roads and bridges damaged during natural calamities and built various public buildings such as schools. Army medical teams periodically conducted examinations and provided medicines, inoculations, and dental services in remote settlements lacking civilian medical facilities. The military also engaged in health, education, and construction projects in the slums and shantytowns of the cities.

The army trained officers and selected enlisted men to provide literacy training to conscripts and to civilians living in areas where the military were assigned. In January 1989, the government reported that the armed forces and the National Police would provide security, transportation, lodging, and food to teachers sent to conduct a new literacy campaign in remote areas (see Education , ch. 2).

Data as of 1989