Life-long civil rights activist, Raul Humberto Yzaguirre, 70, has been appointed U.S. ambassador to the Dominican Republic. He is a native of San Juan, TX and the son of Mexican parents. The Dominican government accepted Yzaguirre, and Dominican President Leonel Fernandez has welcomed him as the replacement for Robert Fannin – who held the position until retiring in January this year.
Yzaguirre was the president and CEO of the National Council of La Raza from 1974 to 2004. He is a lifetime member of the Council on Foreign Relations and currently heads the Policy Institute that bears his name at the University of Texas Pan American. He is also a Presidential Professor of Practice and Executive Director of the Center for Community Development and Civil Rights at Arizona State University in Phoenix, Arizona.
In addition to his position as ambassador, Yzaguirre has been appointed to the President’s Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanics. He served in the U.S. Air Force Medical Corps for four years, received a B.S. from George Washington University, was an Institute of Politics Fellow at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and studied at La Universidad de Las Americas in Puebla, Mexico.
Congratulations, Raul.
Your life long struggles and efforts for civil rights and equality have been recognized.
I applaud your efforts