The current Dominican Republic ambassador is Sonia Guzmán, who took office in November 2020 and is the first woman representative of the Dominican Republic to the United States Government. She was born on October 31, 1946 in the city of Santiago de los Caballeros.

Ambassador Guzman holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Library Science from the University of Antioquia, Medellin, Colombia, and a Postgraduate Degree in School Administration with a concentration in Public Administration from the University of Puerto Rico. In addition to Spanish, she is fluent in English and French.

She was the director of the Central Library of the Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra (PUCMM), being promoted shortly thereafter to academic vice-rector of the same institution (1974-1976). She became the first woman in the Dominican Republic to hold that position.

From 1978 to 1982 Guzman served as administrative undersecretary of the Presidency. Other important roles enabled the ambassador to be a member of the Culture Committee of the Dominican National Commission for UNESCO; Consultant to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)/World Health Organization (WHO), 1977; Vice President of the Commission of Fiscalization and Penal Reform of the Dominican Republic, 1988; and Administrative and Financial Vice Rector of the PUCMM, 1992-1998.

It is worth mentioning that she was also the first woman to occupy the position of Member of the Monetary Board, during the period 2000-2004.

During the same period she served as Secretary of State for Industry and Commerce, being the second woman to hold that position. She was the chief negotiator for the Dominican Republic in the DR-CAFTA Free Trade Agreement, and also served as chief negotiator of the contract between the Rosario Dominicana gold mine and Placer Dome.

She has published several non-fiction books and is also part of different Boards: Board of Directors of the ISA University (Higher Institute of Agriculture), from 2006 to present; Board of Directors of the Association for Development (APEDI), 2008 – present, and of the Executive Committee and founder of the Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM), since 2015-present, the current ruling party in the Dominican Republic.

As a relevant fact of her political and family history, it should be noted that Sonia Guzmán is the daughter of the former President of the Republic, Antonio Guzmán Fernández, and Renée Klang de Guzmán (both deceased); she is the widow of José María Hernández, with whom she had four children: Iván, Carlos, Miguel and Carolina. This is her first diplomatic post.