President Luis Abinader appointed Joel Adrián Santos Echavarría to be Acting Minister of the Presidency as per Decree 378-22. Joel Santos had served as advisor on tourism to the Executive Branch from the start of the Abinader administration in August 2020.
Santos replaces Lisandro Macarrulla who has taken an indefinite leave of absence after he and his son were included in the Medusa file that looks into a criminal charges for corruption in the construction of a large jail during the Medina administration.
Santos Echavarría is an economist. He graduated Magna Cum Laude from the Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra (PUCMM). He holds an MBA in International Business from the American Graduate School of International Management (Thunderbird) in Arizona. He is a Fulbright scholar.
Before his appointment to the Abinader administration in August 2020, Santos had been general manager of Administradora de Fondos de Pensiones Reservas (AFP Reservas).
Also, since 2007 he served as executive vice-president and founding partner of Coral Hospitality Corp, a company dedicated to the management of hotels, tourist condominiums and other services in the tourism industry under the Coral Hotels, Xeliter and International Vacation Club brands, with 35 properties under management, more than 1,500 employees and operations in the Dominican Republic, Mexico and Jamaica.
Santos was part of the BHD Group for 10 years, serving as Vice President of Planning and Development of New Businesses and Vice President of Finance of Coral Hotels and Resorts.
Previously, he worked for the financial sector with Citibank and for the telecommunications industry in marketing and finance at Codetel and Tricom.
He has also taught economics and finance at PUCMM and its Corporate Finance Post Graduate program.
Joel Santos has had active participation as a member of several boards of directors in various guilds and associations, including the National Hotel & Tourism Association (Asonahores) and Young Entrepreneurs Association (Anje).
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Presidency
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Diario Libre
12 July 2022