Laura Jimenez is an advisor to Joe Biden

A rainy morning with a hurricane danger alert ushered in Diario Lieber’s visit to the US State Department, where she was waiting for us Laura Jimenezthe only Dominican woman to advise the President Joe Biden In the affairs of the Western Hemisphere, which covers the region of North America, Central America, and the Caribbean.

Laura was born in Santo Domingo, just in front of the garden of the San Miguel Church, and at the age of five she came to the South Bronx, though she highlighted that she grew up between the two countries, visiting her father frequently, as well as the opportunity to return to DR to complete his secondary education.

Prior to her current position, the Dominican held several political positions in South Florida, one of which was chief of staff for state Senator Jose Javier Rodriguez. In 2016, she worked on Hillary Clinton’s campaign, and as the Latin voting director for the Biden nomination. When he won the presidential election, he was part of his transition team, and from the first day of the Biden administration he began working at the State Department.

“In the last election, I knew I wanted to participate, that I wanted to do my part, and I felt that my community, that the Latino community had a lot to lose, and I always knew that he, Vice President Biden, was the one who could make the change I wanted to see, and I could help my community, So I waited until he turned it on, and I had other chances and said no, I’ll wait, because I was so confident that he’s the one with the experience and the drive to get us out.

The top of the americas

The Dominican is submerged the next day top of the americas Which will be held in Los Angeles, California, from June 6-10. We discussed with her the planning process, the countries invited, and the main topics President Biden would like to discuss with leaders in the region.

“I think all the peoples of the hemisphere go through similar challenges, we all share the same hope for our families, for our people, for our countries, we can do so much together, and then we agree with these governments, and we sit down together, talk about how we can move forward as a hemisphere, how do we get out From the pandemic, how can we provide opportunities for our people, something that will help and benefit each of our countries, and the region itself,” Jiménez said.

He said that among the main issues that President Biden wants to discuss with leaders in the region are the climate crisis, the pandemic, economic opportunities and immigration.

“It’s also something we’ll talk about, because it’s a regional thing, it’s something we all have to deal with together,” he said on the immigration issue.

We spoke with Laura about invitations to attend the summit and questioning countries like Brazil and Mexico for not attending if countries like Cuba and Venezuela are excluded from the meeting. He stressed in this regard that the invitations began to leave and did not yet reach the total number of countries that will be invited.

“I would say that we are still in the invitations. Now for countries that feel there is a problem with who is invited or who is going to participate, I would say that at the end of the day, it is up to each country to decide whether they will participate, but the President hopes that all will participate. countries, all democratic leaders…the president hopes that the region will seize this opportunity, and the fact is that whoever is present, whoever is at the summit, will see the benefits for their people,” the Dominican highlighted.

When asked about the possibility of boycotting at the summit, due to the controversial reactions by some countries in the region, Laura confirmed that each country decides to participate or not.

“I repeat, the President hopes that those who are invited will participate, because the region really needs to have this conversation and it will be something that will benefit all of our peoples and countries of the hemisphere,” he said.