The Ministry of Foreign Relations has uploaded a tender that calls for the purchase of “chacabanas” or “guayaberas”, the classic Caribbean-style linen shirts, with up to RD$12,000, or about US$200 each. While a stylish shirt can go in better stores and designer shops here for around RD$25,000, the same linen shirt (Cubanera brand) can be purchased online for US$75 or about RD$4,500.
The shirts are used instead of suit and tie attire for men and as dresses for women.
The purchase would be for 3,250 of these shirts to be used for the 10th Summit of the Americas that the Ministry of Foreign Relations is organizing together with the Organization of American States and the US Secretary of State Department. It is not known if the funds for the shirts would come from the OAS fund.
The 10th Summit of the Americas is scheduled to take place in Punta Cana this coming December 2025.
The Summit is an opportunity to congregate heads of state and ministers of the Americas. There are doubts which heads of state and government will come, given the controversies generated by migration and trade issues with the Trump administration and countries in the Americas. Dominican Foreign Relations Minister Roberto Alvarez has said his organizers are focusing on the business summit that is also part of the 10th Summit of the Americas. The United States government has the final say on which heads of state and government get invited.
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El Nacional
28 May 2025