Ambassador Vega said that it could be another six months before the Clinton administration appoints another candidate to ambassador to the DR. The previous appointee, Mari Carmen Aponte was rejected the the US Senate on grounds of her being too liberal. Vega explained that the DR being without a US ambassador is not an unusual situation. He said that 54 other countries also await the appointment of their US ambassadors. The problem lies in the Senate Commission that is in charge of studying nominations made by President Clinton and has rejected many of the presidential selections.
