New Trump-backed chief of Latin American bank vows push for regional unity
WASHINGTON, ( Reuters) - Mauricio Claver- Carone, the first U.S. citizen elected to lead Latin America’s main development bank, vowed yesterday to focus on strengthening its funding base and building more unity in the region after a contentious election.
In his first interview since Saturday’s election, Claver-Carone, a Trump loyalist and Cuba hard-liner, said his 67% victory gave him a strong mandate to lead the InterAmerican Development Bank (IDB).
He stressed the need for unity and increased transparency at a time when Latin America and the Caribbean are reeling from the coronavirus pandemic, and downplayed prospects for his removal if Democrat Joe Biden should win the Nov. 3 presidential election.
Claver-Carone will take office on Oct. 1 and has pledged to serve only one five-year term.
In the run-up to the election, the IDB vote took on the appearance of a geopolitical battle between the Trump administration, which is keen to gain leverage in resource- rich
Latin America and counter the rise of China, and some regional powers who wanted to retain control of the lender’s top job.
The bank has been led by Latin Americans since its inception in 1959, while the World Bank has historically been led by a U.S. citizen. Upending that tradition marked a further attack on multilateralism by U.S. President Donald Trump, critics argue.
Claver-Carone said he had already spoken with officials in Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica and Mexico, which sought to delay the vote until after the U.S. election, and assured them he would work with them to make the bank more “financially relevant”, transparent and representative.
Sixteen countries abstained from the vote, including European countries that have voting shares in the bank. China and another country did not participate in the vote.
Claver-Carone said he planned to assemble a diverse leadership team to head the bank within a month after taking office, but denied news reports that he had already promised
certain plum jobs to people in Brazil and elsewhere.
“I did not offer anyone a position at any time during this campaign process,” he said, adding that he would work with the IDB’s board to fill the top jobs after he took office.
Claver-Carone said he was keen to ensure that Brazil, Latin America’s largest economy, was better represented in line with its shareholding in the bank, but any jobs would be based the candidates’ qualifications.