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News > Latin America

US Senate Confirms New Ambassador To Trinidad And Tobago

  • The decision was announced by the U.S. Senate via a press release Friday.

    The decision was announced by the U.S. Senate via a press release Friday. | Photo: Reuters

Published 29 June 2018
Opinion

Joseph Mondello, 80, said he intends to lower the rate of Islamic State Group recruitment, as well as sex and drug trafficking.

Trinidad and Tobago will be receiving a new ambassador from the United States after the U.S. Senate confirmed the nomination of Joseph Mondello in a press release Friday.

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"Being considered for the post of ambassador of the United States to the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is an extraordinary high point in my life," said Mondello, who worked as the former Nassau GOP leader for nearly 40 years.

Among his plans for the future, the 80-year-old Republican politician intends to lower the rate of Islamic State Group recruitment, address the issue of sex and drug trafficking, and promote human rights and women's empowerment.

During a hearing with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee earlier this month, Mondello said he also planned to improve economic relations with the Caribbean nation, given the close relationship it has with the southern states.

"There is poverty there. There (are) social and economic problems despite the fact they have a very high (gross domestic product)," Mondello said, adding that a least 135 citizens from Trinidad and Tobago's Muslim community had been recruited by the Islamic State Group to fight.

According to Senator Marco Rubio, there are more Islamic State Group fighter recruitments per capita in Trinidad and Tobago – with a joint population of 1.2 million – than in any other country in the western hemisphere.

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