The Dominican Republic will host in 2025, the 10th Summit of the Americas, most important regional conference for the countries of the Western Hemisphere, a Presidential Summit of the Organization of American States (OAS).
The selection of the country for this event was announced during the Ministerial Meeting of the Summit Implementation Review Group (SIRG), held this Thursday in Lima, Peru, within the framework of the agenda of the 52nd OAS General Assembly, where the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Dominican Republic was present.
The news was announced to the Member States by the Secretary of State of the United States of America, Antony Blinken, who congratulated the Dominican Republic for this new commitment to multilateralism. Dominican Foreign Minister Alvarez expressed that the country is committed to working closely with all States to bring to this summit the most pressing issues of the hemisphere and achieve the best possible results
“The Dominican Republic is committed to multilateralism and fully convinced of the opportunity provided by these international scenarios. This vocation has crystallized in our performance, and we have accumulated enough experience to be involved in an event of this magnitude,” said the minister.
The Dominican Republic currently holds the pro tempore presidencies of the Central American Integration System (SICA), as well as the Ibero-American Conference, whose summit will be held in the country in March next year.
About this experience in organizing international summits, the foreign minister mentioned some of the most relevant ones held in the country, such as the second Summit of the Organization of African Caribbean Pacific States, in 1999; the twelfth Ibero-American Summit, in 2002; the General Assemblies of the OAS, in 2006 and 2016, and the fifth Summit of Heads of State of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), in 2017.
“For this reason, it is an honor for our country to take the responsibility of organizing the next Summit of the Americas, for which, as always, we will put all our efforts and willingness to carry it out at the highest level and in an inclusive manner,” said the Dominican diplomat.
Álvarez acknowledged the Government of the United States of America for initiating the Summits process and maintaining it over time, while affirming that the Dominican Republic will continue to work closely with that nation to fulfill the commitments made at the IX Summit held this year 2022 in Los Angeles, California.
The Secretary General of the OAS, Luis Almagro, expressed his appreciation for the work done by President Luis Abinader and Foreign Minister Alvarez to ensure that the country will host the next Summit of the Americas and assured that the event will be in good hands.
At the meeting where this announcement was made, Minister Álvarez was accompanied by the Vice Minister of Multilateral Foreign Policy, Rubén Silié; the Permanent Representative Ambassador of the Dominican Republic to the OAS, Josué Fiallo; the Dominican Ambassador to Peru, Alejandro Arias; the Director of International Organizations of MIREX, María Fernanda Ortega; the Minister Counselor of the Diplomatic Mission to the OAS, Érika Álvarez, and the Dominican candidate to the Inter-American Juridical Committee, Julio José Rojas Báez.
The First Summit of the Americas was held in December 1994 in Miami, United States. This regional meeting brings together the Heads of State and Government of the continent’s Member States to discuss political issues, affirm common values and commit to concerted actions at the national and regional levels to address present and future challenges facing their countries.
Only the Summit of the Americas brings together leaders from the countries of North, South, and Central America, and the Caribbean. The Summit, and its stakeholder forums, promote cooperation towards region-wide, inclusive economic growth and prosperity based on our shared respect for democracy, fundamental freedoms, the dignity of labor, and free enterprise.
History of the Summit & Past Summits
U.S. President Bill Clinton convened the first Summit of the Americas in Miami, Florida, in December 1994 to promote economic growth and prosperity throughout the Americas based on shared democratic values and the promise of increased trade and commerce to improve the quality of life for all peoples and preserve the hemisphere’s natural resources for future generations. The 1994 Summit was the first hemispheric summit since 1967, when Uruguay hosted most of the region’s leaders, but did not include Canada and much of the Caribbean. The subsequent regular summits have taken place in Santiago, Chile (1998), Quebec City, Canada (2001), Mar del Plata, Argentina (2005), Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago (2009), Cartagena, Colombia (2012), Panama City, Panama (2015), and Lima, Peru (2018). Special summits took place in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia (1996), and Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico (2004).
The United States currently serves as Chair of the Summit’s deliberative body, the Summit Implementation Review Group (SIRG). The Summit has taken place approximately once every three years since 1994 and is the only meeting of all leaders from the countries of North, South, and Central America and the Caribbean. This will be the first time the United States has hosted the Summit since the inaugural meeting in Miami, in 1994
