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Beyond the reasons that have led to the dismissal of Mauricio Claver-Carone, his appointment had raised much criticism because this position is traditionally reserved for a Latin American. What does the cessation of it imply?
The IDB dismissed its president, Mauricio Claver-Carone, on Monday. He was removed after an investigation concluded that the US official, the son of a Spaniard and a Cuban, had maintained an intimate relationship with a subordinate and had increased his salary by more than 40%.
The appointment of Claver-Carone was an anomaly at the IDB, since a tacit agreement stipulates that the presidency of the bank should be headed by a Latin American, a tradition broken by then President Donald Trump who promoted the North American candidate.
This closes a parenthesis of abnormality, since until before his arrival, the presidency of the IDB was occupied by a Latin American, a tacit agreement broken when Donald Trump imposed Claver-Carone at the head of the bank.
Does Claver-Carone’s departure have political importance? “It is important because it implies perhaps giving the IDB a more apolitical character… even though Claver-Carone has Cuban origins, he is a US citizen and… we know that the Cuban exile sector has a certain partisan bias and some interpreted that the Trump administration was seeking politicize the allocation of loans”, analyzes Ignacio Labaqui, professor of Latin American politics and theory of International Relations at the Argentine Catholic University.
After the departure of Claver Carone, his position remains in the hands of the executive vice president, the Honduran Queen Irene Mejía Chacón, until a new president is elected. And it will not be easy for the context.
“It is a very difficult moment worldwide. We are facing a combination of the shock of the pandemic, that of the war, the food crisis and the energy crisis. And in this context, the IDB is working with countries that, in many cases, have very limited room for fiscal response. But at the same time, that puts the bank at risk because it is lending to countries with very complicated situations,” says Aldo Caliari, senior advisor on policy and strategy at Julileo, United States, which brings together the main Protestant churches in the economic promotion of the most vulnerable sectors.
Let us remember that when it comes to deciding who will be the next president of the IDB, the three main shareholders of the bank – the United States, Argentina and Brazil – together have almost 53% of the voting rights.
