Efraín Vázquez-Vera

Doctor Efraín Vázquez-Vera is a Caribbean Internationalist, and Full Professor of International Relations and Diplomacy at the University of Puerto Rico. He holds a Doctorate and Masters in International Relations from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, and is a graduate of the Diplomatic School at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Spain. He has several publications on international and Caribbean affairs as well as on Puerto Rican political and socioeconomic development. He has been awarded several scholarships including the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board at Jordan of the US Department of Education, the U. S. Speaker and Specialist Grant in Haiti of the US Department of State, the Institute of Iberoamerican Cooperation Scholarship at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Spain, and the Presidential Grant from the University of Puerto Rico. From 2001 to 2003, doctor Vázquez-Vera was Assistant Secretary of State at the Department of State of Puerto Rico, and served as an Adviser on Foreign Affairs (2006-2011) at the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States. He was also Honorary Consul (2008-2013) of Antigua & Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St. Lucia, St. Kitts & Nevis, and St. Vincent & the Grenadines in Puerto Rico. On March 16, 2013, he was appointed "Chief of Mission" of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico Office in the Dominican Republic. From 2014 to 2016, doctor Vázquez-Vera was Chancellor of the University of Puerto Rico at Humacao. In 2010, the King of Spain gave the title of Commander of the Order of Merit of Spain in recognition of his academic and diplomatic work in the Eastern Caribbean. In 2016, the King of Spain gave the title of Commander of the Order of Isabella the Catholic in recognition of his academic achievements. In addition, he collaborates regularly with national and international radio and television stations as an Independent World Affairs Analyst.