The Dominican Republic has a close relationship with the United States and with the other states of the Inter-American system. It has accredited diplomatic missions in most Western Hemisphere countries and in European capitals.
History
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The island nation of the Dominican Republic maintains very limited relations with most of the countries of Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe. It concentrated its diplomatic activities in four critical arenas: the circum-Caribbean, countries in the Americas, the United States, and Western Europe (mainly West Germany, Spain, and France).[1]
Diplomatic relations
List of countries which the Dominican Republic maintains diplomatic relations with:
On 26 June 1959, Cuba broke diplomatic relations with the Dominican Republic, citing, among other things, the latter's protection of "Batista war criminals," the sacking of the Cuban Embassy in Ciudad Trujillo, the preparation of a "counter-revolutionary force of 25,000 men" aimed against Cuba, insults against Cuba by the government-controlled press and radio and, especially, attacks by the Dominican Air Force on its own defenseless civilian population and the "torture and assassination of prisoners".[89] The Dominican Republic and Cuba recently established consular relations, and there is contact in fields such as commerce, culture, and sports.
The Dominican Republic has very strong ties and relations with Puerto Rico, albeit not formal ones. Although a United States Commonwealth, Puerto Rico is the Dominican Republic's largest trading partner. While relations between the islands have had difficulties, mainly due to the huge exodus of illegal immigrants from the Dominican Republic due to the nation's history of economic woes, the islands still, with the assistance of the United States Coast Guard and the Dominican Navy have worked hard to reduce the number of Dominicans crossing the Mona Passage in recent years. Puerto Rico is home to an estimated 485,000 Dominicans,[93][failed verification] and the Dominican Republic maintains consulates in the cities of San Juan and Mayagüez.
The Dominican Republic's standing as the largest Caribbean economy, second-largest country in terms of population and land mass, with large bilateral trade with the United States, and its proximity to the United States and other smaller Caribbean nations make the Dominican Republic an important partner in hemispheric affairs. The Embassy estimates that 100,000 U.S. citizens live in the Dominican Republic; many are dual nationals. An important element of the relationship between the two countries is the fact that more than 1 million individuals of Dominican origin reside in the United States, most of them in the metropolitan Northeast and some in Florida.
U.S. relations with the Dominican Republic are excellent. The Dominican Government has been supportive of many U.S. initiatives in the United Nations and related agencies. The two governments cooperate in the fight against the traffic in illegal substances. The Dominican Republic has worked closely with U.S. law enforcement officials on issues such as the extradition of fugitives and measures to hinder illegal migration.
The United States supports efforts to improve Dominican competitiveness, to attract foreign private investment, to fight corruption, and to modernize the tax system. Bilateral trade is important to both countries. U.S. firms, mostly manufacturers of apparel, footwear, and light electronics, as well as U.S. energy companies, account for much of the foreign private investment in the Dominican Republic.
Exports from the United States, including those from Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, to the Dominican Republic in 2005 totaled $5.3 billion, up 11% from the previous year. The Dominican Republic exported $4.5 billion to the United States in 2006, equaling some 75% of its export revenues. The Dominican Republic is the 47th-largest commercial partner of the U.S. The U.S. Embassy works closely with U.S. business firms and Dominican trade groups, both of which can take advantage of the new opportunities in this growing market. At the same time, the embassy is working with the Dominican Government to resolve a range of ongoing commercial and investment disputes.
The Embassy counsels U.S. firms through its Country Commercial Guide and informally via meetings with business persons planning to invest or already investing in the Dominican Republic. This is a challenging business environment for U.S. firms, especially for medium to smaller sized businesses.
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) mission is focused on improving access of underserved populations to quality health care and combating HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis; promoting economic growth through policy reform, support for CAFTA-DR implementation, and technical assistance to small producers and tourism groups; environmental protection and policy reform initiatives; improved access to quality primary, public education and assistance to at-risk youth; a model rural electrification program; and improving participation in democratic processes, while strengthening the judiciary and combating corruption across all sectors.[94]
31 March 1936 and 12 January 1945-Joint Communique
The Dominican Republic and Venezuela have kept a very close relationship throughout the early 2000s. Currently,[when?] Venezuela is the biggest seller of oil to the Dominican Republic. In 2003, Venezuela was selling to the Dominican Republic approximately 110,000 barrels of oil per day, making for more than 75% of the daily oil consumption in the country, including cars, factories, and electrical plants. Today, the Dominican Republic gets around 50,000 barrels of oil a day from Venezuela under the Petrocaribe agreement, which includes most of the Caribbean countries.[95]
Due to the Dominican economy, the country cannot afford all this oil through cash, so to pay Venezuela for the oil, the Dominican Government makes payments not only in cash, but also by exporting goods like black beans to Venezuela and other things like selling bonds. The Dominican Government has to export so many beans to Venezuela, Over 10,000 tons, that it had to start to import some beans from foreign countries to provide the population with beans.[96]
In January 2015, the Dominican Government raised almost 2 billion dollars to pay off part of the debt they owed to Venezuela.[97] The Dominican Republic currently represents a 1.5 billion dollar year revenue to Venezuela just in the oil business itself, which is the reason why the Dominican Republic and Venezuela government have such a strong connection now that both countries are getting what they need from each other.
The Dominican Republic used to keep official relations with Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC). On 1 May 2018, the Dominican Republic's government announced that diplomatic relations with Taiwan is severed and diplomatic ties with People's Republic of China is established, and recognize Taiwan as an "inalienable part of Chinese territory".
Israel had provided aid and technical assistance and maintained some commercial, cultural, and diplomatic ties; in return, the Israelis often counted on the Dominican Republic to support their positions in international fora.[1]
↑ "Relaciones con Bélgica". Embajada de la República Dominicana ante el Reino de Bélgica, el Gran Ducado de Luxemburgo y Misión ante la Unión Europea (in Spanish). Retrieved 10 May 2025.
↑ Anuario del personal del servicio exterior ecuatoriano (in Spanish). Ecuador. Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores. 1943. p.31. ... Ministro Plenipotenciario en la República Dominicana ( desde el 14 de Abril de 1937 )
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