The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MIREX) is a centralised institution of the Dominican Republic, responsible for the implementation of the Foreign Policy as outlined by the President of the Dominican Republic.

MISSION Develop an active Foreign Relations Policy that links the national development agenda with the international environment, in the interest of the Dominican Republic.

VISION MIREX is an open, efficient and transparent institution that promotes the integration of the Dominican Republic in the region and the world, exercising effective and responsible leadership in favour of national development.

Roberto Álvarez served in the foreign service of the Dominican Republic from 1966 to 1970. Between 1970 and 1978, he worked at the Organization of American States (OAS), first as deputy chief of protocol, then as staff attorney in the legal department and later in the secretariat of the human rights commission. As senior specialist, he prepared the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights’ (IACHR) draft country reports on Chile (1976), El Salvador (1978), Nicaragua (1978), and Paraguay (1977). He also organized the IACHR’s on-site visits to Panama (1977). El Salvador (1978), and Nicaragua (1978).

With a grant from the Inter-American Foundation, Mr. Álvarez carried out research (1979-1980) on legal aid to indigents and underrepresented groups in the Dominican Republic and the Caribbean, as well as on the promotion and protection of human rights in the region. While studying for a master’s degree at the Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), in Washington, DC (1982-1984), he held the position of deputy associate of the Central American and Caribbean Program at the University.

Mr. Álvarez has worked as a consultant: for the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB), as Coordinator of the First Forum on Private Investment in the Americas, held in Washington, DC, 1991; for the Latin American Institute for the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders (ILANUD) of the United Nations, 1987-1988; and for the Ford Foundation, on issues regarding the development of business, the strengthening of judicial systems and the rule of law, and the promotion and protection of human rights, 1978-1979. He has also served as a delegate on Amnesty International missions to Nicaragua (1980-1981) and Sri Lanka (1981).

Mr. Álvarez has been a professor, as well as a guest lecturer, on human rights, international law and U.S. foreign policy at several universities and academic centers, including: the Foreign Service School of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Dominican Republic; American University and the Foreign Service Institute of the US State Department, both in Washington, DC; the Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo; the Universidad Centroamericana (UCA) in Managua, Nicaragua; Rutgers University Law School in Camden, New Jersey; Florida International University (FIU), Miami, and the City University of New York (CUNY). As an entrepreneur he developed several well-known and extremely popular restaurants in Washington, D.C.

Between June 2005 and September 2008, Mr. Álvarez held the position of Permanent Representative of the Dominican Republic to the Organization of American States (OAS) with the rank of Ambassador. While at the OAS, he served as Chairman of the Permanent Council from July to September of 2005; chair of the Subcommittee on Partnership for Development Policies of the Permanent Executive Committee of the Inter-American Council for Integral Development (CEPCIDI), 2006-2007; and of the Committee on Juridical and Political Affairs of the Permanent Council, 2007-2008.

With the rank of honorary Ambassador, he served on the Advisory Committee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, from December 2008 until August 2010, when he resigned. He was a member of the Advisory Committee of the Latin American Program of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Washington, D.C., from 2012 until 2020.

On February 10th 2013, he was elected by the XIX Annual Assembly of Participación Ciudadana, a non-partisan civic organization of the Dominican Republic, to its National Council for two years. He was selected by the Council on February 19th, as its General Coordinator for the established period of one year. On April 22, 2014, he requested a leave of absence from positions of trust within the organization.

He was the coordinator of international affairs of the presidential candidate of the Partido Revolucionario Moderno (PRM), Luis Abinader, during the presidential campaigns of May 2016 and July 2020. On August 16th of that year he was sworn in by president Abinader as minister of foreign affairs.

He is the author of several books, essays and articles on human rights and international affairs. He writes frequently for Dominican newspapers and magazines, such as La Lupa sin Trabas, El Caribe, El Siglo, Listín Diario, Hoy, Rumbo, Clave, and Gaceta Judicial. He has also published occasional op-ed pieces in the Washington Post, Miami Herald and El Pais (Spain).

Mr. Álvarez received a Master's degree in international relations (1982) from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and completed all course work towards a PhD in US foreign policy. He also holds a JD degree from the Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo (1968) and a Master's in Comparative Law from Georgetown University (1976).

He speaks English and Spanish fluently and has a working knowledge of Portuguese and French. He’s a sports aficionado, distinguishing himself in the martial arts; he holds a second-degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do (Korean karate), having studied under the renowned grand master Jhoon Rhee, tenth degree black belt, known as the father of Tae Kwon Do in the U.S.