Ceiba mayor Samuel Rivera Báez rejected the US military’s claim that its presence generated $81,953,586.25 in economic impact for his town during fiscal year 2026, telling NotiCel by phone that the figure is "casi cero" at the municipal level. His comments respond to a three-page report by the 346th Air Expeditionary Wing, the Air Force wing operating at the former Roosevelt Roads naval base, which attributes $161.4 million in impact across Puerto Rico and puts half of it in Ceiba. The report breaks Ceiba’s figure into $45.8 million in direct impact (contracts, purchases and salaries), $27.4 million indirect (purchases from suppliers) and $8.6 million in induced effects (employee spending).
The military says $18.3 million of the indirect figure came from business transactions tied to contracts and federal purchase-card spending, plus $9 million in new salaries, and that troops spend at restaurants, stores, cinemas and supermarkets and on tourism. Rivera Báez, who manages the municipal treasury, said the money has not passed through municipal coffers, that the military mostly hires outside companies for food, and estimated only 15% to 20% of their spending occurs in town businesses.
He claimed the town has received less than $100,000 and warned the information could confuse and hold back the arrival of funds, because it gives the impression that the town receives money thanks to the military presence. Most Roosevelt Roads land is held by the Puerto Rico government, assigned to the Ports Authority, the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources and the Department of Health. The base closed March 31, 2004; on August 31, 2025, the Ports Authority and the Puerto Rico National Guard signed an agreement with the US Navy for military exercises.
The wing supports operations Southern Spear and Absolute Resolve, part of the US Caribbean deployment that includes ten F-35 fighters sent by President Donald Trump against drug cartels amid tensions with Venezuela, and the base supported the capture of Nicolás Maduro.