On May 21, the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life established the new Federation "Nuestra Señora del Carmen" which includes the Spanish-speaking monasteries of the American continent. They are the seven autonomous monasteries: Trujillo Alto and Mayagüez (Puerto Rico), Santiago de los Caballeros, La Vega, Santo Domingo and Monción (Dominican Republic), Camaná (Peru) and Porlamar (Venezuela). The foundations of Barinas (Venezuela) and Azua (Dominican Republic) are associated with these. The same Congregation also approved the Statutes and appointed the first Assistant: Fr. Jorge Luis Rivera Maldonado (ACV-Antilles). This federation joins the five already existing: three in Spain, one in the Philippines and one in Italy.