The Joe Biden government will not nominate a US candidate to lead the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) after the dismissal of Mauricio Claver-Carone this week over an ethics scandal, told Reuters a Treasury spokesman.
Claver-Carone, the first American to lead the bank in its 62-year history, was nominated in 2020 by former President Donald Trump, overturning an unwritten understanding that the president of Latin America’s largest development bank would come from a country borrower in the region.
“We will return to the understanding of governance that the previous administration destroyed by welcoming candidates from borrowing member countries to compete for the presidency,” Treasury spokesman Michael Kikukawa said. “The Biden administration will not field an American candidate.”
The United States controls 30% of the bank’s voting shares, its largest shareholder by far.
The IDB board of governors voted Monday to fire its Cuban-American boss after an independent investigation showed he had a relationship with a female subordinate and acted to give her salary increases totaling more than 45% of base salary in less than a year. year.
Claver-Carone denied in an interview with Reuters on Monday having had an intimate relationship with the employee and said he was planning legal action against the bank.
Headquartered in Washington, the IDB is a benchmark investor in Latin America and the Caribbean, providing $23.4 billion in financing and other financial commitments in 2021.
President Joe Biden has promised to “reinvigorate” Western Hemisphere institutions such as the IDB, and sees the bank as a go-to player in responding to high inflation and sluggish growth exacerbated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, while working to obtain more transparent lending in the region, say US representatives.
The Biden administration wants the bank to quickly overcome the leadership crisis and help lead efforts for greater economic cooperation with Latin America and the Caribbean.
The Treasury said it will seek candidates who fully support reforms aimed at leveraging private sector investment to create more jobs and bolster confidence in democracies in the region, while also addressing climate change.
Under the formal selection process for a new president launched on Wednesday, IDB governors can nominate candidates within the next 45 days.
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