The announced US State Department’s Special Envoy for Latin America for the Trump administration could be good news for the Dominican Republic. Trump has yet to announce his choice for the assistant secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, but the special envoy is a position of influence.
As reported in Diario Libre, the would-be appointed Mauricio Claver-Carone has a positive view on the Dominican Republic and in the past has said the country is “an oasis.”
Politico reports that the appointment is another signal of the Trump administration’s intent to focus on the Western Hemisphere. Politico highlights that the appointment is yet another sign of how Trump plans to shore up the presence of the United States in Latin America. His picks for Secretary of State and Deputy Secretary of State, Senator Marco Rubio of Florida and former US ambassador to Mexico Christopher Landau, are seen as experienced foreign policy hands with considerable background in Latin America and the Caribbean. Trump has also named many of his picks for regional ambassadorships, including to countries such as Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Argentina and Colombia, as well as regional forums such as the Organization of American States.
Mauricio Claver-Carone, who served as senior director for the Western Hemisphere and led the Inter-American Development Bank, visited Santo Domingo in April 2022 for the opening of the new IDB Representative Office.
Diario Libre recalled that Claver-Carone had stated when participating in the panel “Latin America and its Relationship with the Rest of the World: Regional Economic Integration. Relations with the US and European Perspectives” had called the country an oasis.
“What is needed are oases. Dozens of oases are needed in the region. The Dominican Republic is one of those oases as are Costa Rica, Panama, Guyana, Uruguay, and Paraguay.”
In his remarks, he criticized the current vision of regional integration and advocated for internal improvements within states to attract investment individually.
Earlier this month, President-elect Donald Trump had announced another person of influence, Leah Francis Campos, as his choice for ambassador to the Dominican Republic. The Dominican Republic has not had a US ambassador since the Trump administration ambassador left in January 2021.
Read more:
Politico
Diario Libre
IADB
DR1 News
26 December 2024