Posted: 5:06 am ET
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The U.S. Ambassador to Costa Rica Fitzgerald Haney, as far as we know, the only Obama appointed political ambassador given an extension by the Trump administration, concluded his assignment at the U.S. Embassy in San Jose this past July.  The new Trump ambassador, Sharon Day was confirmed on August 4 so she should get to post shortly.

Meanwhile, the former ambassador and his family have decided to stay in Costa Rica because the kids are stable and happy in San Jose. And then this: Ambassador Haney said, “As I contemplate possible next steps professionally, I have decided to embark on another adventure/challenge: Dancing with The Stars Costa Rica.”

That’s right, we’ll have a new addition to our Dancing With The Stars: The Foreign Service Edition; and it’s the real thing in Costa Rica!

Ambassador Haney told us that they started rehearsals about a month ago and debuted this past Sunday on Costa Rica’s number one TV station – Teletica.  If you would like to see how he did (his partner Lucía Jiménez is a two-time World Salsa Champion), check this out — they’ve got the moves: http://www.teletica.com/Noticias/172651-.note.aspx. His young daughter gave him a 9 out of 10 score adding in Spanish on national TV, “I’d say for a gringo dancing salsa, he did pretty well.”

The U.S. Embassy in San Jose posted a video of the former ambassador’s DWST-Costa Rica debut here and the clip now has over 100K views.  The former ambassador with deadpan humor said, “I am sure [it] has provided innumerable people some much needed entertainment.”  He said that he decided to participate as a way of helping to continue to raise awareness for breast cancer. His wife Andrea was previously diagnosed with Stage III breast cancer. He added that he will donate all related earnings, royalties, etc. to the local foundation Dra. Anna Gabriela Ross (http://ross.or.cr/), one of the premiere organizations providing support for families dealing with all types of cancer in Costa Rica.

The former ambassador hopes to make it to the finals.  If you want to vote, go to http://app01.teletica.com/dwts/. The show airs Sundays at 7pm CST and will be available on the internet as well www.teletica.com/dancing/programas.aspx.  Get ready, it’ll be waltz this Sunday.

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