Anibal de Castro, executive editor of Diario Libre, analyzed the recent speech given by US Ambassador Leah Francis Campos to the audience of the American Chamber of Commerce and characterized it as a public redefinition of Washington’s policy toward the Dominican Republic under the new Trump administration.
Anibal de Castro is one of the country’s most veteran diplomats, having been the Dominican ambassador to the United Kingdom (2004-2011) and United States (2011-2014) Spain (2014-2017) and the European Union (2017-2020).
He remarked that the key revelation of the AmCham luncheon speech was Campos’s admission that the previous Biden administration had pressured the DR to keep its border with Haiti open during crises, a policy she criticized. In contrast, she declared the US is now “100% aligned” with President Abinader’s government on prioritizing territorial sovereignty and border security. This shift closes the chapter on bilateral friction over migration controls and human rights, as the new focus is exclusively on security, framing Haitian instability as a threat to both countries rather than primarily a humanitarian concern.
De Castro says that the new focus extends to economic relations and a diminished role for humanitarian activism. He mentioned that Campos issued a direct warning that the Embassy would not tolerate the “politicization of commercial matters” or “false accusations” from US activist sectors. Demonstrating this, she announced her first official visit would be to Central Romana, a major sugar producer previously sanctioned by the US government over forced labor allegations.
Overall, the speech marked a declaration of priorities centered on security, economic cooperation, and shared values, making the new US diplomacy more politically aligned with the current Dominican government and less conditioned by traditional human rights and labor agendas.
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Diario Libre
Diario Libre
DR1 News
4 December 2025