The president of the sports organization of Central America and the Caribbean, Dominican Luis Mejía Oviedo, is a born leader of communications in his country, a recognized voice on radio and television. His talent has catapulted him to the forefront of the most outstanding in his field. His addiction for sports comes from his youth, through baseball, basketball and softball, later he ventured into sports leadership and became president of the Olympic Committee of the Dominican Republic between 2006 and 2021.

Mejía Oviedo is a leader who is characterized by being direct, loquacious and also diplomatic, skills that led him in 2017 to become IOC Member, the highest distinction that a sports leader can achieve in the world elite. In his multiple functions he took on the biggest challenge on this side of the continent, the presidency of Centro Caribe Sports, in fact, he was reelected at the last assembly in October 2023 extending his term for four more years. SportsIn came to his offices in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic to talk about what he is most passionate about, sports in all its expression.

President, in October last year in Santiago de Chile you were re-elected president of Centro Caribe Sports. What is the balance you make at the head of this organization that brings together more than 35 member countries?

It is positive. In a quick summary: we were able to reinvent ourselves and group ourselves even more as an institution in times of pandemic and to go ahead with a major challenge, I am referring to the Central American and Caribbean Games in El Salvador. The time to organize it was only a year and a half, therefore, we had no margin for error. The personal commitment of President Nayib Bukele was key, because the country assumed that role of committing itself in situ in every action we undertook as an organization before, during and after the Games. We also had the unconditional support of the president of the Local Organizing Committee, Yamil Bukele, and of the Olympic Committee of El Salvador itself, presided by Mr. Armando Bruni. Without them it would have been unthinkable to have such successful games, with a people identified with each of the athletes and with a spirit of permanent improvement, where sport alone is able to unite us and bring joy to a people like El Salvador, which once again responded to the tradition of being great hosts.

You are a leader who has earned a place and is recognized in the continent and the world for your pro-sport actions. In fact, you are an IOC Member, so I ask you: where is the formula for transcending time and being an innovator par excellence?

Believe in your work, do your job well and be consistent over time. Also, enjoy what you do, put passion into it, respect your environment, be the owner of your convictions, but without neglecting that you have the obligation as leader of an organization such as Centro Caribe Sports and also as IOC Member, to be recognized and respected through your work, not only because of the investiture you have. Always keep in mind that what transcends are the legacy you leave behind in this passionate activity. In short, I have had the virtue of taking into account all the actors involved in the activity of sport, showing me that success lies in all the people – athletes, coaches, medical personnel, doping personnel, leaders… – to them I give a very important value because they are the true essence of sport.

You have a universe of different countries in Centro Caribe Sports, how do you work to narrow the gaps between the great powers and those that are developing?

The key to relate with each one of them is that they are all equal from the point of view of the importance for our organization. There is a situation that seems very basic, such as the language issue; I do not allow any document to be published or any event to take place where we do not include both languages; Spanish and English. In our case, this inclusion has helped us a lot in communicating with all the countries, taking an important step in the integration and relationship with the local Olympic Committees. I see all this as a challenge to have countries from Central America, the Caribbean and South America because the diversity of race personalities that there is means that you have to take them all into account to do it with gallantry, dignity and equality.

The XXV edition of the Central American and Caribbean Games will be held in Santo Domingo in 2026. Your country and your home, what does it mean for you personally to have these games back after 40 years? The last time you organized them was in Santiago de los Caballeros?

It will be the third time that the Dominican Republic takes the baton to host the games: it was in 1974, in 1986 -in Santiago de los Caballeros-, and now it returns in 2026 to Santo Domingo, in the Centennial Games and the 25th edition. And it is my turn as president of our organization to be in my native country, my hometown. That will make these games memorable for everyone, especially for Centro Caribe Sports. The privilege could not be greater, it is something really exciting, it is something of national interest and that will lead us to put all our efforts to make Santo Domingo a venue that is at the height of the Centennial Games in 2026.

In this diversity of countries that Centro Caribe Sports has, how do you project the Paris 2024 Olympics?

First of all, I want to highlight that we have created a follow-up campaign for all our athletes called ‘Huellas’. We seek to show with this project how they prepare day by day, the effort behind them, the silent commitment of their most direct environment. The ‘footprints’ they leave on the way to build their own sports life story, their training, the countdown for those who are qualified and for those who are looking for the last places for the Olympic Games in Paris 2024. These special programs or capsules for social networks and media committed to the dissemination of sports, has given us a closeness and allows us to know the other side of the athlete. Making these young people visible fills us with pride because, in addition, it is the first experience we have and motivates us to continue in this line of showing what they do beyond the competition, also to know how they get there.

Competitively, we have very good athletes in the area of athletics, especially in sprinting. We must remember Jamaica’s feat, an impressive number of gold medals, but also the other countries of the central Caribbean -the English Caribbean as we call it-, there are runners of a higher level who are expected to return with a medal, such as Puerto Rico in 110 meters hurdles or the Dominican Republic in the 400 meters sprint -both in the women’s category-. We are going to celebrate every medal and we are going to encourage those who seek their own records and fulfill their own dreams.

If you had to stop time for a few minutes, what passage of your life do you remember and why?

Certainly being an IOC Member is a privilege of the highest and foremost level. In political activity, political leaders, when they enter this field in their country or in their region, their great final interest is to become president of a nation, that is the similar simile for a sports leader, his summit is the International Olympic Committee and being an IOC member is a privilege that crowns your sports career. It is like a kind of Hall of Fame, a kind of recognition and, there you have the opportunity to rub shoulders, to participate, to know, but to work and contribute to the development of sport worldwide.

We have accepted with great humility to be in the select group of the Members of the International Olympic Committee, whether we like it or not it is the great desire of every leader and to have reached this position I see it as a great honor and something that really encourages me, excites me to move forward.