Secretary of the Presidency, Danilo Medina said in Cuba on 7 April that it is very likely that the Dominican Republic will restore full diplomatic relations with Cuba before year 2000. "If the circumstances permit, before Leonel Fernández ends his term, diplomatic relations will have been restored," he said. Medina was in Havana on 7 April for the opening of the Dominican consulate. Minister of Foreign Relations Eduardo Latorre said that the opening of the consulate makes official the informal trade and cultural relations between both countries that have existed since the days of the Balaguer administrations. "This official opening is a decisive step in the normalizing of the links between both countries and it will make possible that these connections be expanded and strengthened," said Latorre. He traveled to Cuba with Danilo Medina, Customs Department director Miguel Cocco, and Deputy Minister of Foreign Relations Minou Tavares as well as Ana Laura Guzmán from the Ministry. Grecia Fiordaliza Pichardo is the new Dominican consul in Havana. Cuba opened their consulate in Santo Domingo on 23 December 1997.
