Dominican Republic bids to join Commonwealth

Santo Domingo.- Dominican Republic Foreign Minister CarlosMorales Troncoso announced on Sunday that the country will make approaches witha view to joining the British Commonwealth, an international organization madeup of 54 countries with close political and economic relations with the UnitedKingdom.

“It is a membership that will consolidate our commonvalues that were already share and that, together with Haiti, we must continueto strengthen: democracy, freedom, culture of peace, the rule of law andequality of opportunities,” declared Morales Troncoso.

In a press release, the foreign minister stated that theDominican business sector has been calling for the country to join theCommonwealth for decades, on the grounds that it is a political platform thatwill allow Dominican society to access a network of interactions that willstrengthen education, health, trade, the environment and the justice system.

“In the same way as we joined the ACP in 1990 togetherwith Haiti, we should do the same thing with the Commonwealth. We hope to havethe support of India, Australia and Malaysia in this initiative,” said the minister.

The three countries mentioned by foreign minister MoralesTroncoso, as well as being members of the Commonwealth, have diplomatic relations with the Dominican Republic, which could help strengthen the country’s internationalconnections.