The Dominican Republic was admitted to the Executive Council of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The DR will be one of four nations to represent Latin America and the Caribbean on the board. The new regional members of the board are Peru (153 votes), DR (148 votes), Chile (131 votes) and Mexico (124 votes). These nations replace Cuba, Argentina, Brazil and Bolivia. This is the first time, the DR will sit on the UNESCO board. Vice President Jaime David Fernández traveled to Paris to support the Dominican membership request. The DR will now participate in the body that is in charge of implementing UNESCO programs. The Ministry of Foreign Relations says that the DR opted to the post "as part of the efforts to open the DR to the world, to develop a new foreign policy that strengthens the Dominican government’s commitment to participate at the regional and global levels in international forums and organizations in response to the present international challenges." As of 14 November, Japanese Ambassador in France, 62-year old Koichiro Matsuura will head the organization. He will replace Spaniard Federico Mayor Zaragoza.
