Dominican Consulate in New York pays tribute to Juan Pablo Duarte

New York.- On the cold morning of this Saturday, the Dominican community in New York once again gathered around a name that has served as a historical and moral compass for nearly two centuries. At Duarte Square, on the Avenue of the Americas between Canal Street and Grand Street, the Consulate General of the Dominican Republic in New York, represented by Consul General Jesús Vásquez Martínez, together with the Instituto Duartiano, led a floral offering in honor of Juan Pablo Duarte on the occasion of his birth, in an event where civic spirit blended with a sense of belonging.

It was not an empty protocol ceremony. As community leaders, institutional representatives, and everyday Dominicans arrived, the space took on the tone of a gathering the diaspora feels as its own, a way of saying that distance does not erase memory. Before the tribute, gazes settled on the same message repeated in different voices: Duarte is not remembered only to recall the past, he is invoked to measure the present.

During the event, his life and legacy were highlighted as the ethical core of an idea of nation built on freedom, justice, sovereignty, honesty, and sacrifice. For Consul Jesús Vásquez Martínez, better known as Chú, these principles do not belong solely to school textbooks, but continue to shape how Dominicans think about the nation, inside and outside the country, especially in times when identity must be defended amid migratory routines, work, and adaptation.

The floral offering also became a moment of quiet reflection. Among those in attendance, there was a shared conviction that the homeland is not just a border, but a daily exercise of coherence, commitment to democratic ideals, and respect for dignity.

In this reading, Duarte appears as the uncomfortable reminder that symbols are useless if they are not translated into conduct, and that the nation is sustained as much by memory as by actions.

The Consulate explained that the activity had originally been scheduled for January 26 but was rescheduled due to low temperatures and a snowstorm that affected New York City, a decision made to protect safety and ensure broader community participation.

With the tribute, the Consul General reiterated his commitment to preserving historical memory, honoring national roots, and strengthening Dominican identity abroad.

At Duarte Square, that commitment was expressed without grand speeches, through a simple and ancient gesture, flowers laid with respect to remind the diaspora that history is not celebrated only with dates, but with awareness and action.