Foreign Relations Minister Carlos Morales Troncoso has defended the DR’s right to establish diplomatic relations with the countries it considers pertinent, without having to take into account the relations between other nations, as reported in the Listin Diario. He also considered that the US must respect the decisions that the DR government takes regarding the establishment of diplomatic relations, as the DR does with US decisions. The minister spoke in these terms in reference to the US government’s alleged resentment towards the DR’s diplomatic relations with Venezuela and Cuba. “We are a sovereign country and have the right to maintain relations, even when other states do not interact the same way we do”, stated Morales. He sustained that the DR and Washington maintain relations of mutual respect.
The minister also announced that as part of the establishment of diplomatic relations with the Emirate of Qatar, President Leonel Fernandez would travel there later this year, to sign an agreement for the importation of natural gas. Qatar has the third largest natural gas reserves in the world. The agreement will allow the DR to import natural gas from the beginning of 2006, the advantage being that since this commodity is not controlled by the international market, long term contracts can be signed at fixed prices. Morales has already visited Qatar and informed that a Dominican ambassador will be appointed there soon.