SANTO DOMINGO. The Central Electoral Board (JCE) today delivered his Dominican identity card to baseball player Manny Machado. Machado, born in the United States but of Dominican parents, expressed excitedly: “I am finally Dominican!”. In addition, he reiterated his patriotic pride by emphasizing that “my blood is Dominican”, pointing out that he has always wanted to represent the country in international competitions.

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In the same act, catcher Austin Wells also completed his naturalization process and received his Dominican ID card. Wells, originally from the United States but with a Dominican mother, has recently been designated as the starting catcher for the national team. His family emphasizes that Wells “speaks perfect Spanish and proudly carries the Dominican nationality,” reflecting the player’s connection to his Caribbean roots since childhood. With these additions, both players are officially part of the Dominican Republic’s national baseball team. The Dominican team will play its second exhibition game today at the Quisqueya Juan Marichal Stadium against the Detroit Tigers, as part of its preparation for the tournament. Subsequently, the team will travel to Miami, where it will begin its participation in the first round of the World Baseball Classic on Friday. In addition, the entity shared images on its networks that other players on the team also went through the process of changing their ID. The delivery of the documents is part of the implementation of the new Dominican identity card, a state project recently launched by the JCE. According to the electoral authorities, this renewal process is “oriented towards the strengthening of national identity”. Thus, the extension of the new document to athletes of Dominican origin symbolizes the expansion of the identification system to all citizens with rights to it, including people of Dominican descent.