After many delays, the Senate yesterday approved the appointment of journalist Silvio Herasme Pe?a as Dominican Ambassador to Haiti. Previously the Senate had declined to confirm the appointment, many Senators arguing that since Haiti was engulfed in a political crisis, it was the wrong time to send an ambassador there. Just yesterday the Chancellery announced that it would have to dispatch a special envoy there because of the Senate delays. The Foreign Ministry has long argued that it is precisely during a political crisis that the DR needs to have an Ambassador in-place in Port-au-Prince, in order to keep contacts with key leaders and provide an assessment of the situation.