This week, the White House convenes the inaugural meeting of the Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity (APEP) Leaders summit. The meeting will bring together the leaders of the United States, Canada, and ten countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, including the Dominican Republic. Yet the meeting comes as the Dominican Republic continues to grapple…
The just-released 2023 Investment Climate Statement on the Dominican Republic is the latest example of how the U.S. State Department can’t decide whether to tell the truth or gloss over the dangerous state of the Dominican legal and justice system. It should be no surprise. Political appointees like Secretary of State Antony Blinken and United…
Writing in the Daily Signal last week, Steven Bucci – a former Army Special Forces officer and Pentagon official – criticized the Biden Administration’s selective application of its commitments to bring home “every wrongfully detained American” as the preventive detention crisis in the Dominican Republic goes unaddressed. Bucci calls out a “double standard” in bringing…
Dominican President Luis Abinader is scheduled to come to Washington DC in early November to meet with President Biden. By all indications the White House is planning to roll out the red carpet despite a growing chorus of concerns around the Dominican Republic’s criminal justice practices, including a preventive detention crisis and wrongful imprisonment of…
In an explosive new letter, Representative Troy Nehls (R-TX) asked the Inspector General (IG) of the Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate whether taxpayer funded programs are supporting the Dominican Republic’s excessive use of preventive detention against American citizens and legal permanent residents. As a member of the House Judiciary Committee, Nehls wrote that he…
The “disconnect” within the Biden Administration over the humanitarian crisis in the Dominican Republic’s prison system, recently raised as a concern by Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX) of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee, appears to be worsening. Following the Dominican Republic’s participation at the “Democracy Delivers” event with United States Administration for International Development (USAID)…
It’s been a busy week for Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Today, he joined USAID Administrator Samantha Power to celebrate “democratic bright spots” like the Dominican Republic and recommit millions of dollars to strengthen their institutions. During the event, Dominican President Luis Abinader stated, “Economic development won’t occur in a country that is still corrupt…
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul’s letter to Secretary Blinken has set off a firestorm of debate in the Dominican Republic. The public conversation on preventive detention in the Dominican Republic has reached a critical juncture. This week, Dominican Justice Initiative Founder Mario H. Lopez sent a letter to Chairman McCaul thanking him for…
The right to personal liberty is a basic freedom recognized by international organizations like the United Nations and Organization of American States (OAS) and guaranteed by the constitutions of the world’s leading democracies. The OAS’ Principles of Best Practices on the Protection of Persons Deprived of Liberty in the Americas clearly states, “The law shall…
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman (HFAC) Michael McCaul criticized the Biden administration in a letter sent to Secretary of State Anthony Blinken for failing to know the current number of U.S. Citizen and Legal Permanent Residents held under the guise of ‘preventive detention’ in the Dominican Republic. In his letter, Chairman McCaul expressed concern over the “long…
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