Dominican Embassy donates 509 books to UWI in Jamaica

Kingston, Jamaica.- In a landmark gesture of cultural diplomacy, the Dominican Republic has donated 509 books to the University of the West Indies (UWI) in Jamaica—marking the largest bibliographic donation ever made by a Dominican diplomatic mission abroad. The donation ceremony, held at the Mona campus in Kingston, was led by Dominican Ambassador Angie Martínez and celebrated as a symbol of deepening academic and cultural ties between the two nations.

Titled “Dominican Voices: Literature Connecting Countries – A Gift of Knowledge,” the initiative included works from renowned Dominican authors such as Juan Bosch, Pedro Henríquez Ureña, Salomé Ureña, and Marcio Veloz Maggiolo, covering literature, history, politics, poetry, and more. The books will enrich the university’s academic resources and promote Caribbean interconnectedness. Ambassador Martínez highlighted the donation as both a tribute to the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations and a lasting legacy of intellectual exchange.

Additionally, the Dominican mission proposed creating a “Heroes’ Square” at UWI to honor Caribbean national heroes, starting with a bust of Juan Pablo Duarte. The event closed with a symbolic arrangement of the books in the shape of a spine, representing knowledge as society’s backbone.