Hans Hertell

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Hans Helmut Hertell^[1] (born circa 1950 in San Juan, Puerto Rico) is a former United States Ambassador to the Dominican Republic. Nominated by President George W. Bush in the summer of 2001, Hertell was sworn in as Ambassador on November 8, 2001. He presented his credentials to Dominican President Hipólito Mejía in Santo Domingo on November 29, 2001.

Hans Hertell

An attorney with more than 20 years experience in government, public affairs, and corporate and banking law, Ambassador Hertell was one of the founding partners of the third-largest full service law firm in Puerto Rico, Goldman, Antonetti, Ferraiuoli, Axtmayer & Hertell. From 1992-96, Ambassador Hertell was Managing Director for the Caribbean and Latin America at Black, Kelly, Scruggs & Healey, a government and public affairs company based in Washington, DC. In 1989, he served as a member of the Commission to Review U.S. Magistrates for Reappointment, U.S. Court for the District of Puerto Rico. Between 1982-84, Ambassador Hertell was a political and legal advisor to the Governor of Puerto Rico, as well as to the Attorney General, the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Treasury of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

Ambassador Hertell helped the administration of then-Governor Sila Calderon facilitate trade and immigration agreements between Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. As Puerto Rico's most closest neighbor and largest trading partner, trade with the Dominican Republic is highly important to the growth of the Puerto Rican export market. However, due to the faulty Dominican economy, in recent years Puerto Rico has seen an exodus of illegal immigrants arriving the shores of the island. Crossing the Mona Channel using rickety fishing boats called yolas, many immigrants try to make it to Puerto Rico and eventually to the United States in search of better economic opportunities and lives. Hertell helped the Calderon administration signed a treaty with then Dominican president Hipólito Mejía which stated that any illegal immigrants who illegally arrive in Puerto Rico would be repatriated to the Dominican Republic immediately.

In the banking sector, Ambassador Hertell was Chief Executive Officer and Vice Chairman of Ponce Bank (NYSE), one of the largest publicly traded corporations in the Caribbean. From 1989 to 1991, he served as a director of the Federal Home Loan Bank of New York.

He remains very active in fundraising for the Republican Party ^[2]. Ambassador Hertell holds a bachelor of arts degree from Fordham University of New York and a juris doctor from the University of Puerto Rico. He is married and the father of three children and is fluent in Spanish and English.

In April 2006, Ambassador Hertell officially left his post as ambassador.^[3] He was replaced by Chargé d’Affaires Roland W. Bullen, who served as the interim head of the embassy until mid-November 2007.^[4] On November 15, 2007, P. Robert Fannin was sworn in as the new ambassador.^[5]