Dominican Republic marks 180 years since ‘El Trabucazo’
Dominican Republic Ambassador Sonia Guzmán hosted diplomats and State Department officials at her residence in early March to celebrate the 180th anniversary of independence of the nation, which is on the same island as troubled Haiti.
“The great action that took place on February 27, 1844 … was the event that began the independence process that we Dominicans call El Trabucazo, blunderbuss in English,” Guzman said in a short speech to launch the celebrations.
The name is a reference to the blunderbuss – a predecessor of the shotgun – that Dominican revolutionary Matías Ramón Mella fired in Santo Domingo on the night of Feb. 27, 180 years ago. The shot he fired was seen as a declaration of war against the country’s Haitian occupiers who had seized control of their island neighbor after Dominicans had enjoyed a brief period of independence from Spain.
“We don’t commemorate (our first period of independence) because it was too short,” Guzmán told her guests, who included the ambassadors of Antigua and Barbuda, Costa Rica, Haiti, Honduras, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Spain and Uruguay, as well as officials from the Organization of American States and the State Department. “It lasted only two months.”
Days earlier, the Inter-American Defense College, based at Fort McNair in southwest Washington, D.C., also marked the anniversary.
Along with IADC students and faculty, guests at the event included Ambassador Mayerlyn Cordero Diaz, the permanent representative to the OAS; Defense, Military, Naval, Air and Police Attaché at the Embassy of the Dominican Republic Brig. Gen. Robert Miguel Labort; and Deputy Chief of Mission of the Dominican Republic Embassy in the United States Aralís Rodríguez Collado.
The IADC was opened in 1962 by then-secretary of state Dean Rusk, who presented the school with the building it is in and furnishings, donated by the U.S. government.
The school educates military, police, diplomatic corps and other government agency leaders from OAS countries to prepare them for senior strategic-level positions in government.
The independence day festivities at the IADC included dancers, a student-led presentation about the Dominican Republic and traditional dishes. – Karin Zeitvogel
Polish WWII veteran awarded medal during foreign minister’s visit
Poland’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Radosław Sikorski took time out during an official visit to Washington last month to present a World War II veteran who fought in the decisive battle to retake Monte Cassino from Nazi Germany with a medal in recognition of his contributions to Poland.
“There are awards that give honor to those who present them. And I am honored to present you with this award,” Sikorski said as he pinned the medal on the left side of 98-year-old Romuald Lipiński’s blazer in a ceremony at the Polish embassy.
Lipiński was part of the 12th Podolski Lancers regiment that captured Monte Cassino in Italy after a fierce battle in May 1944.
“As a 19-year-old, you climbed Monte Cassino,” former U.S. Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, who was at the ceremony, told Lipiński. “I salute you.”
Immediately raising his right hand to touch his forehead, Lipiński said, “I return the salute.”
Lipiński was a teenager when he and his family were rounded up in June 1941 at their home in what was then eastern Poland and deported to Siberia by the Soviets. The following year, the family was evacuated to Iran, and in 1943, Lipiński was drafted and sent to Iraq to train with the Polish army. His unit landed in Italy in December of that year.
Thanks to people like Lipiński, who reached the rank of colonel during his years in the military, Poland today is a safe and prosperous country, Sikorski said.
The Bene Merito medal, which was established in 2009, is awarded to Poles and foreigners who have helped to strengthen Poland’s position in the international arena.
“I will remember this day for the rest of my life,” said Lipiński, who moved to the United States in 1953, and has spent the past four decades living in the D.C. region. – Karin Zeitvogel
New ambassadors welcomed to DC
Nine new ambassadors from around the globe were welcomed to Washington last month at a regular event hosted by the Meridian International Center, where this time the importance of nurturing strong partnerships to better address global challenges was highlighted.
“Friends are more important than ever, any time you turn on the news,” said Tiffany Atwell, senior vice president of government relations at global sustainability leader Ecolab, the evening’s sponsor.
Ecolab offers water, hygiene and infection prevention services and solutions.
“The important thing for us to feel united about today is we all want to make the world a better place,” she said.
The newly accredited ambassadors were Sabri Boukadoum of Algeria, European Union Ambassador Jovita Neliupšienė from Lithuania, Kuwait’s Al-Zain Al-Sabah, Jackson Soram from Micronesia, Youssef Amrani from Morocco, the Netherlands’ Birgitta Tazelaar, Lui Tuck Yew of Singapore, Iztok Mirošič from Slovenia and St. Kitts and Nevis’ Jacinth Henry-Martin.
More than 160 people from the private and public sectors attended the event, held at Meridian House in northwest D.C. The historic building was designed by John Russell Pope, the architect behind the Jefferson Memorial, the west building of the National Gallery of Art and the National Archives.
Meridian International Center hosts two Welcome to Washington receptions each year, bringing together new chiefs of mission with leaders from the government, business, philanthropic and policy communities.
In a speech at the event, Joan Polaschik, director of the Foreign Service Institute of the Department of State, said the Biden administration is focused on strengthening and expanding diplomatic relationships at a time the U.S. President has called an “inflection point” – when one era ends and a new one begins.
“I hope that you will consult regularly with the State Department and not just on the issues that are of traditional concern for our bilateral relations, but also on transnational issues that are reshaping national security. We need new strategies and new partnerships to find solutions to these challenges,” Polaschik said.
“We deeply welcome you as our partners, friends and allies,” she added. – Stella Canino-Quiñones
