Guillermo Linares (Photo: Twitter)

Last night, shortly before 9 p.m., Ronnie Sykes, the spokeswoman for Congressman Charlie Rangel's re-election campaign sent out a press release announcing Assemblyman Guillermo Linares' endorsement of Mr. Rangel. The release identified Mr. Linares as the "first Dominican elected official in the U.S." Less than two hours later, Ms. Sykes sent out a modified press release calling Mr. Linares "the first Dominican elected to a major political office in the United States."  Ms. Sykes confirmed to The Politicker that the press release was corrected because Mr. Linares is, in fact, not the first Dominican elected official.

Mr. Linares was elected to the New York City Council on November 5, 1991. Twenty four hours earlier and just about five miles away from Mr. Linares' Council district, a woman named Kay Palacios was elected to the City Council of Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.

The discrepancy was first identified in 2010 in New Jersey Dominicans: A Decade of Accomplishments, a study released by the Conference on Dominican Affairs that was produced by Dr. María Teresa Feliciano of the Institute for Latino Studies and Néstor Montilla of the Common Roots Project.

Prior to the study, Mr. Linares was commonly considered the first Dominican elected official in the United States. Dr. Feliciano and Mr. Montilla discovered the mistake after interviewing a New Jersey political activist named Lucilo Santos.

"Guillermo was elected in 1991 and he is deemed by all reported accounts as the first Dominican elected official in the United States," Mr. Santos said in a press release announcing the results of the study. "However, here in New Jersey, a Dominican woman who was also elected on the same year, went unnoticed because in the ‘Big Metropoli’ Guillermo captured all the media’s attention."

Before Dr. Feliciano and Mr. Montilla released their report, Mr. Linares believed he was the first Dominican to hold public office in the United States. Ms. Palacios is the daughter of an opponent of the former Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo and her family escaped his regime by fleeing to America, where she was born. Mr. Linares, who was born in the Dominican Republic,  is correctly identified in his official State Assembly biography as "the first Dominican born elected to public office in the United States," but he reportedly told the Gotham Gazette he was "the first Dominican elected to public office in the country" several months after the study was released and he is still regularly identified as America's first Dominican public official in press reports.

Danilo Medina declaring himself victorious in the Dominican presidential election Sunday. (Photo: Getty)

Recently, a Democratic club in Washington Heights held a meeting to endorse candidates in the local Congressional race. Afterwards, a group of reporters and some campaign staffers went out for beers at a nearby diner, Tu Sabor Latino. Once inside, they ran into a table full of volunteers working on the other major political campaign in the neighborhood—the race for a president of the Dominican Republic, between Danilo Medina and Hipólito Mejía, better known as Papá to his supporters.

Outside the diner, sirens flashed as the police escorted a motorcade carrying one of the Dominican presidential candidates up Broadway. It was a physical manifestation of a phenomenon that has long been familiar to Uptown politicos, in the upper reaches of Manhattan, local politicians can’t avoid bumping into the Dominican campaigns. (There is even a seat in the Dominican congress for a representative
from the U.S., such is the size of the ex-pat community.).

Every four years, the Dominican elections play out on the streets of Washington Heights and Inwood—with colorful signs, flags, trucks with speakers blasting Spanish songs and campaign slogans and personal appearances by the candidates. According to a 2005 study by CUNY’s Center for Latin American, Caribbean & Latino Studies, Dominicans make up over 53 percent of the population in the area, and many of the residents are dual citizens who also vote in their home country.

It turns out, this unique political landscape is riddled with potential landmines for local politicians.

“As much as politicians are constantly trying to avoid slips of the tongue on all issues, Dominican politicians are at pains to not present themselves as in favor of one party or the other when it comes to the Dominican national elections,” a staffer who has worked with several elected officials in Washington Heights and Inwood told us.

The local politicians cope with the split Dominican electorate by strenuously avoiding any declaration of allegiances. One aide for an area official refused to comment for this story telling us they didn’t want “to touch” the issue. State Senator Adriano Espaillat, who represents Washington Heights, Inwood, Riverdale and Marble Hill, used rather graphic terms when he declined to weigh in on the race to the Riverdale Times earlier this month.

“For that, you’ve gotta wear a bulletproof vest,” Mr. Espaillat told that paper. “I’m not getting involved in that.”

In an effort to keep up the appearance of impartiality, both Mr. Espaillat and the local councilman, Ydanis Rodriguez, have appeared at events for both Mr. Mejia and Mr. Medina.

As one staffer explained it, “I think it’s less a relationship of trying to pull them in for endorsements, it’s more of a symbiotic thing in terms of fundraising. I remember people throwing around figures for when Papá was in town....They were saying he was going to bring in like $1 million for his one visit to New York, for like a long weekend.”

At first, it appeared the local elected officials could relax, with the passing of the election Sunday. Mr. Medina, of the Partido de la Liberación Dominicana, appeared to emerge victorious with 51.21 percent of the vote compared to 46.96 percent for his rival, former president Mr. Mejía of the Partido Revolucionario Dominican. But Mr.Mejía initially refused to make a concession speech, and has disputed the results as "the result of manipulation and abuse of power." So, for now, the U.S. politicians will still have to keep watching what they say, with the slim margin of victory showing just how divided the Dominican electorate is.

“If you support the wrong Dominican candidate, you’re done,” as the staffer put it.

Anibal de Castro (Photo: DomRep.org)

Last month, Dominican Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the Organization of American States Roberto Saladin sent a letter to Governor Andrew Cuomo expressing his support for the creation of a new, predominantly Latino Congressional district in New York. After the letter drew criticism it was an inappropriate foreign intervention, Dominican Ambassador to the United States, Aníbal de Castro sent an email to The Politicker disavowing Mr. Saladin's letter and clarifying his government's position on New York's redistricting dilemma.

"I would like to categorically state that the Dominican Republic views the electoral affairs of the United States, including redistricting issues, as internal and sovereign concerns," Mr. de Castro wrote. "While it is true that the Dominican people would be pleased and proud if the valuable contribution of Americans of Dominican descent were celebrated through the election of one of their representatives to Congress, we respect the absolute right of the competent authorities in the United States to handle the enfranchisement of its citizens in different jurisdictions without external interference."

Mr. Saladin's letter was sent February 21 following a visit to Albany where he attended a ceremony where the State Senate proclaimed February Dominican Heritage Month in New York. During that visit, Mr. Saladin spoke to Governor Cuomo, Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver expressing his support for the Latino district. In his letter to the governor, Mr. Saladin described the creation of the district as a "question of utmost importance" for the Dominican diaspora.

The Politicker was first to report on Mr. Saladin's letter. In our story, we referred to Mr. Saladin as "the Dominican Republic’s Ambassador to the United States" rather than the Dominican Ambassador to the Organization of American States. Mr. de Castro described this as a "false attribution" and said he is the only person who can "convey the official position of the Government of the Dominican Republic in any matter pertaining to this country." Mr. Saladin held the title of Dominican Ambassador to the United States until May of last year.

Despite the difference in their titles, it is clear Mr. Saladin is indeed an official ambassador of the Dominican Republic and America is one of the 35 member states of the Organization of American States. Mr. Saladin's offices are in the Dominican embassy in Washington, D.C. and his letter was written on official stationery.

Read Mr. de Castro's email to The Politicker and and Mr. Saladin's letter to Governor Cuomo below.

Mr. de Castro's email:

“Your post of 27 February entitled “Dominican Ambassador Calls On Cuomo To Support Latino Congressional District” incorrectly identifies Mr. Roberto Saladín as Dominican Ambassador to the United States since 2009. Having assumed to post of Dominican Ambassador to the United States in July 2011, it is solely my duty to convey the official position of the Government of the Dominican Republic in any matter pertaining to this country.

I would like to categorically state that the Dominican Republic views the electoral affairs of the United States, including redistricting issues, as internal and sovereign concerns. While it is true that the Dominican people would be pleased and proud if the valuable contribution of Americans of Dominican descent were celebrated through the election of one of their representatives to Congress, we respect the absolute right of the competent authorities in the United States to handle the enfranchisement of its citizens in different jurisdictions without external interference.

I look forward to your confirmation that this false attribution will be rectified at the earliest opportunity.

Yours sincerely,

Aníbal de Castro
Ambassador”

Mr. Saladin's letter:

Roberto Saladin (Photo: White House/Lawrence Jackson)

Dominican Ambassador Roberto Saladin has thrown his support behind the push to create a new predominantly Latino Congressional district in Northern Manhattan and the Bronx.  Mr. Saladin sent a letter to Governor Andrew Cuomo last Tuesday describing the creation of the district as a "question of utmost importance" for the Dominican Diaspora that would "open the opportunity to elect a Congressman of Dominican origin to the U.S. Congress in Washington D.C."

In addition to his letter to Governor Cuomo, Mr. Saladin, who is the Dominican Republic's Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the Organization of American States, held meetings with the governor, State Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver where he expressed his support for the district during a visit to Albany earlier this month where he attended a ceremony where the State Senate proclaimed February Dominican Heritage Month in New York.

The resolution proclaiming Dominican Heritage Month was proposed by State Senator Adriano Espaillat, who accompanied Mr. Saladin during his meeting with Governor Cuomo. Mr. Espaillat is considering running for the seat in the predominantly Latino district if it is created. If elected, he would be the first Dominican member of the House of Representatives.

Along with the questions surrounding Congressman Charlie Rangel's district in Harlem, the issue of the Latino district is one of the reasons proposals for Congressional lines have yet to be released as part of the redistricting process that occurs in New York each decade. On Sunday, elected officials from Northern Manhattan including Mr. Espaillat, Assemblyman Guillermo Linares, Councilman Robert Jackson and Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez held a march from Inwood to the Bronx calling for the creation of the Latino district.

Read Ambassador Saladin's full letter to Governor Cuomo below.

Update (3/1/12 6:55 pm): The original version referred to Mr. Saladin as the Dominican Ambassador to the United States, a position he held from 2009 until 2011. This story was updated with his current title, Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the Organization of American States. Anibal de Castro, the current Ambassador to the United States, issued a statement of his own March 1 disavowing Mr. Saladin's letter.