Country joins child protection agency

Santo Domingo, RD —The Minister of Tourism, David Collado, and the First Lady and President of the Cabinet of Children and Adolescents, Raquel Arbaje, led the act of entry of the Dominican Republic to the Regional Action Group of the Americas for the Prevention of Child Exploitation in Travel and Tourism, known by its acronym GARA.

Minister Collado and his counterpart Angelita Duarte de Melillo of Paraguay signed the Dominican Republic’s entry to GARA. This country holds the general secretariat of the international organization in the presence of the First Lady and other authorities.

The First Lady of the Republic and President of the Cabinet of Children and Adolescents said that no one should be allowed to abuse children and adolescents.

“As president of the Cabinet of Children and Adolescents, as first lady, as a citizen and as a mother, I salute this effort of the Ministry of Tourism, the Ibero-American University (Unibe), Unicef and ECPAT International to advance in the creation of an environment that protects our children and adolescents from the crime of commercial sexual exploitation, pedophilia and pornography,” the first lady said in a speech.

She understands that society must act against this problem “because what is at stake, gentlemen, is the integrity of children and adolescents.”

In his speech, Minister Collado described the entry of the Dominican Republic to GARA as metaphysical, which ratified the country’s commitment to protect children.

“Taking care of children and protecting their environment is and will always be our commitment. That is why we are so pleased to sign the country’s entry into such an important organization as GARA,” said Collado.

The official made it clear that the Dominican Republic neither allows nor will allow any visitor to abuse children and adolescents.

“I want to tell the men and women who want to come to the Dominican Republic to abuse our children and adolescents not to come. We do not want these predators to come to the country,” said Collado. Deputy Attorney General Yenni Berenice Reynoso said that pedophiles will have to face the authorities.