THE ITALIAN LEGACY IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
498
the Permanent Council (CAJP), 2007-2008. From December 2008 until August 2010, he was a member of the
Advisory Committee of the Secretariat of State for Foreign Affairs with the rank of honorary ambassador.
Since 2012, he has been a member of the Advisory Council of the Latin American Program of the Woodrow
Wilson International Center for Scholars. He served as the director of international policy for the presidential
candidate of the Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM), Luis Abinader, during the May 2016 and May 2020 pres-
idential campaigns. He is the author of several books, essays, and articles on human rights and international
affairs. He holds a Master’s degree in International Relations (1982) from the School of Advanced International
Studies (SAIS), a division of Johns Hopkins University based in Washington, D.C. He obtained a LL.M. (1968)
from the Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo (UASD) and a Master’s degree in Comparative Law
(1976) from Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.
•
Juan Daniel Balcácer
Balcácer has been a professor of Critical Dominican History at Universidad Catolica Santo Domingo and Uni-
versidad APEC. He has taught classes on the History of Dominican Culture. He has led many conferences on
historical topics at both Dominican and foreign universities. He has also been a contributing editor for major
Dominican newspapers and magazines. He is the author of several books, including:
Juan Pablo Duarte, el Padre
de la Patria. Biografia para ninos y jovenes,
1978;
Pedro Santana: historia politica de un despota,
1978;
La independ-
encia dominicana
, 1992 (in collaboration with Manuel Garcia Arévalo);
Papeles y escritos de Francisco J. Peynado
(1867-1933). Procer de la Tercera Republica,
1994;
Pensamiento y accion de los Padres de la Patria,
1995;
Vicisitudes
de Juan Pablo Duarte,
1998; and
Trujillo. El tiranicidio de 1961
, 2007. He is also the author of the essays
Americo
Lugo: el patriota olvidado
, 1984; and
Algunas reflexiones sobre la democracia dominicana,
1993. He is a member of
the Academy of Sciences of the Dominican Republic, a member of Instituto Duartiano, and a correspondent
member of the Dominican Institute of Genealogy. He was the President of the Comision Permanente de Efe-
merides Patrias (Standing Committee on National Celebrations). Since 1998 he has been a full member of the
Dominican Academy of History and served as its Treasurer (2001-2004) and Secretary (2004-2007), as well as
Vice President of its Board of Directors (2010-2013).
•
Víctor (Ito) Bisonó Haza
Bisonó Haza is the Minister of Industry, Commerce and Micro, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises. Bisonó
Haza, a prominent political figure in the Dominican Republic, was elected four times as Deputy for the Na-
tional District between the years 2002 – 2020. During those periods, he also served as Chairman of the Com-
mission on the Economy, Planning and Development, integrating the branches of Industry and Commerce
together with that of Finance. Between 2003 and 2011, he was nominated twice as member of the National
Council of the Magistracy, receiving the unanimous support of his colleagues in the Chamber.
He holds an outstanding record of achievements and is particularly notable with respect to current legislation.
Given his career achievements, he has received recognitions from the Association of Industries of the Domin-
ican Republic (AIRD) and the American Chamber of Commerce of the Dominican Republic (AMCHAMDR),
among other distinctions.
Since 2007, he has presided over the Center for Analysis for Public Policies (CAPP), a think tank focused on
proposing reforms for the economy, defense, and politics. At the international level, he also chairs the Parlia-
mentarians for Global Action (PGA), a network that brings together legislators from around the world who
are committed to the values of democracy, freedom, and the rule of law. He is the author of four books:
Las
Bases de la Nación
,
Visión de Nación
,
Reflexiones para una Transformación en la República Dominicana,
and
Mis Es-
critos
(the last of which was published in 2020).
•
Emilio José Brea
Brea was born on August 20, 1950, in San Francisco de Macorís, Duarte Province, Dominican Republic.




