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taly and Latin America share a long history and close cultural links created by the vast Italian communities
that gradually settled in the region and which have contributed to the development of Latin American
countries in the economic and cultural spheres—as well as to the enrichment of the civil society of a region
where people characterized by strong affinities with Italy and Europe now live.
One of the most obvious examples of these very lively and current cultural and social relations is certainly
that between Italy and the Dominican Republic, a country whose link with Italy—forged over past centuries—
has since been consolidated. Genoese merchants brought ideas, technology, and capital to the Dominican
Republic, transforming the agricultural and mercantile sectors and contributing to the country’s economic
development. Along with this, they also transferred knowledge, professional skills, and values that facilitated
the creation and consolidation of the most important Dominican institutions, first and foremost the Navy,
founded by Giovanni Battista Cambiaso, a Genoese merchant who took part with his fleet in the Dominican
Republic’s struggle for independence and who subsequently took on the role of Italian consul.
Other sectors in which an Italian imprint is still clearly visible are those of economics, education, jour-
nalism, art, architecture, film, and literature. Italians have written important pages of Dominican history,
which we have endeavored to ensure are properly appreciated and known within the communities of Italian
descendants resident in the country. We may certainly say that Italians and Italian culture have ensured a fun-
damental contribution to defining the “genetic heritage” of the Dominican Republic, decisively taking part in
the formulation of a new and shared culture.
This book—promoted by the Italian Embassy in Santo Domingo—sets the interesting objective of includ-
ing and ordering in a single frame significant stories of friendship and cooperation until now unknown or only
partially and sporadically known, finally circulating them to the general public, to create a greater awareness
in the Italian communities of their role in the Dominican Republic and the opportunities still to be taken, both
in traditional areas of cooperation and in other sectors to be opened to new synergies.
As Director General for Globalization and Global Affairs, I would particularly like to note that this book
is highly appreciated by the Dominican Minister of Culture and that the following have taken part in this col-
laborative work with their valued contributions: the Foreign and Industry Ministers, the Chief Justice of the
Constitutional Court, and other prominent Dominican figures, such as the Archbishop of Santo Domingo,
who has lent his support to the resumption of relations between Italy and the Dominican Republic.
The invitation to enter into an even more ambitious alliance, by virtue of the strong historical roots that
unite Italy and the Dominican Republic, is also reiterated by the President of the Dominican Republic, Luis
Abinader, who in the Foreword invites us to further strengthen “our common bonds, and continue to write
beautiful pages of history together.” The wish that new pages be written together and our bilateral relations
enriched with new opportunities, not only economic, is also the desire—and assured commitment—of Italy.
Luca Sabbatucci
Director General for Global Affairs of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation