NEW YORK.- The Dominican congressman Adriano Espaillat requested by letter to the President of the United States, Joe Biden, and the Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, that they nominate an ambassador of this country in the Dominican Republic, who has been two years and three months without an official of this category.
The country has been without the presence of a US ambassador since the departure of Robin Bernstein on January 20, 2021, one of the longest periods the Caribbean nation has had without a US diplomat in the history of relations between the two countries.
According to documents published by the White House, Biden has published nominations at least once a week for the US Congress since March. The last one was made this Thursday, April 20, when the President presented the candidacy of Tobin John Bradley as ambassador. Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary before the Republic of Guatemala.
Bolivia, Haiti, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic are the only countries in the Americas where Biden still needs to submit nominations.
In the letter to which the Dominican newspaper Diario Libre says he had access, Espaillat highlights the formal nomination that was made in September 2021 for Calvin Smyre to fill the available vacancy in the Dominican Republic and that was revoked in May 2022, when Smyre’s nomination was redirected to The Bahamas.
“Dear President Biden and Secretary Blinken: I am writing today to request an update on this administration’s plans to appoint and proceed to Senate confirmation of a formal US ambassador to the Dominican Republic (DR), actions that We recommend that the administration undertake with all deliberate speed,” begins the letter sent by Espaillat.
