President Luis Abinader will meet with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio this Thursday, 6 February 2025, the Ministry of Foreign Relations announced. Foreign Relations Minister Roberto Alvarez received his counterpart at the Las Americas International Airport on 5 February at around 8pm.
US Secretary Rubio is scheduled to meet with Minister Roberto Alvarez and team at the Ministry of Foreign Relations early in the morning of 6 February. Later he is scheduled to be at the Presidential Palace as of 11:45 am, accompanied by his official delegation.
Rubio will have a private meeting with President Abinader in the White Room, followed by a working lunch with his delegation in the Green Room.
As reported on the agenda among other topics is Haiti, rare earth element lands, semi-conductors, narcotics, and the Summit of the Americas organized for November 2025 in Punta Cana with the participation of heads of government from the Western Hemisphere. The Dominican Republic has rare earth element lands in Pedernales and is in talks with US companies for exploitation.
After their discussions, both President Abinader and Secretary Rubio will address the media in the Ambassador’s Room at 2pm.
In a meeting on 5 February 2025 with media directors, President Luis Abinader advanced the US government has issued a waiver and Haitian funds will not be affected by the recent fund disbursement orders or the shutdown of the USAID. President Abinader said the US government has guaranteed it will keep humanitarian assistance to Haiti and the suspension of the funding for the security mission is only temporary as the new administration reviews the details of the operation. Abinader said the provisional measure will not affect the mission that has sufficient funds to operate for several months. Already, a spokesperson for the Kenyan troops said they have enough funding through September 2025.
The Dominican delegation will include Vice President Raquel Peña; Foreign Minister Roberto Álvarez; Minister of the Presidency José Ignacio Paliza; Defense Minister Lieutenant General Carlos Antonio Fernández Onofre; Minister of Industry and Commerce Víctor Bisonó; Minister of Energy and Mines Joel Santos; Deputy Foreign Minister for Multilateral Affairs Rubén Silié Valdez; and the Director of Strategic Analysis at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Mirex) Anselmo Muñiz.
Also part of the Dominican delegation are Commander of the National Army, Major General Jorge Iván Camino Pérez; the president of the National Drug Control Agency (DNCD), Vice Admiral José Manuel Cabrera Ulloa; and the director general for prosecution at the Public Ministry, Yeni Berenice Reynoso.
The US delegation includes the Chargé d’Affaires at the US Embassy, Patricia Aguilera; US Embassy counselor Michael Needham; senior official for Western Hemisphere Affairs and human rights advocate Michael Kozak; director of Policy Planning Michael Anton; US State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce; senior advisor for Western Hemisphere affairs Viviana Bovo, and US State Department political and economic counselor Ali Nadir.
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6 February 2025