Roberto Teodoro Álvarez Gil (born in

Santo Domingo Santo Domingo, formerly known as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city of the Dominican Republic and the List of metropolitan areas in the Caribbean, largest metropolitan area in the Caribbean by population. the Distrito Na ...

on June 7, 1944) is a Dominican lawyer and diplomat. He became Foreign Minister of the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

, in the government of President

Luis Abinader Luis Rodolfo Abinader Corona (; born 12 July 1967) is a Dominicans, Dominican economist, businessman, and politician who has served as the 54th president of the Dominican Republic since 2020. He was the Modern Revolutionary Party candidate for ...

in August 16, 2020. He is also a researcher and author of publications on human rights and international relations. In 2005, he was Permanent Representative of the Dominican Republic to the

Organization of American States The Organization of American States (OAS or OEA; ; ; ) is an international organization founded on 30 April 1948 to promote cooperation among its member states within the Americas. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, the OAS is ...

Biography

Álvarez graduated with a doctorate in Law from the Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo and earned a Master's in International Relations from

Johns Hopkins University The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...

and Comparative Law from

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

. In 1979, he visited Argentina as part of the

Inter-American Commission on Human Rights The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (the IACHR or, in the three other official languages Spanish, French, and Portuguese language, Portuguese CIDH, ''Comisión Interamericana de los Derechos Humanos'', ''Commission Interaméricaine des ...

, an organization that investigated the Trujillo regime in 1976.

Career

On June 22, 2005, he presented his credentials as ambassador of the Dominican Republic to the

and on July 1 he assumed the presidency of the Permanent Council, remaining in the position until September. On September 24, 2008, he left his position. Later, he served as honorary ambassador of the Advisory Commission of the Secretary of State for Foreign Relations between December 2008 and August 2010, as well as being a consultant to the

Inter-American Development Bank The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB or IADB) is an international development finance institution headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States of America. It serves as one of the leading sources of development financing for the countri ...

and official delegate of

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...

Nicaragua Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, comprising . With a population of 7,142,529 as of 2024, it is the third-most populous country in Central America aft ...

and

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

. He has also been coordinator of Citizen Participation, Dominican chapter of

Transparency International Transparency International e.V. (TI) is a German registered association founded in 1993 by former employees of the World Bank. Based in Berlin, its nonprofit and non-governmental purpose is to take action to combat global corruption with civil s ...

. In 2018, he proposed an official truth commission about the government of

Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Molina ( ; ; 24 October 1891 – 30 May 1961), nicknamed ''El Jefe'' (; "the boss"), was a Dominican military officer and dictator who ruled the Dominican Republic from August 1930 until his assassination in May 1961 ...

Minister of Foreign Relations

On July 10, 2020, President

announced that Álvarez would be the Chancellor of the Dominican Republic. Álvarez has emphasized protection and rapprochement with Dominicans abroad, as well as strengthening their ties with the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. In coherence with this interest in strengthening these relations with the strategic ally of the north, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was one of the international personalities to attend the inauguration of President Luis Abinader, on August 16, 2020. In the first months of his administration he had to clarify the contractual relationship of his nephew Marcelo Guzmán Álvarez's company with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In a statement he established that his close friend had been a service provider since the previous administration and that during his administration this contract had been terminated. In the first three months of his administration, he has initiated a rapprochement with the neighboring country of Haiti with clear signs that the new Dominican foreign policy attempts to relaunch the relations of the two countries that occupy the same island. Roberto and his Haitian counterpart have exchanged visits.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alvarez Living people 1944 births People from Santo Domingo Dominican Republic lawyers Government ministers of the Dominican Republic Foreign ministers of the Dominican Republic