Five Latin American countries (Mexico, Chile, Brazil, Argentina and Trinidad and Tobago) they hope that their respective candidates preside over the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)without any of them sounding like a favorite for now.
Although the countries had already made their names public in recent days, it was not until this Friday night, November 11, that the IDB confirmed them through a statement, a few minutes after it expired (at 12 a.m. ) the deadline for submitting applications.
They are the Brazilian economist Ilan Goldfajn, head of the Western Hemisphere Department of the International Monetary Fund (IMF); Nicholas Eyzaguirre, former Minister of Finance and Education of Chile; Gerard Esquivel, deputy governor of the Bank of Mexico (Banxico); Argentina Cecilia Todeca, who was Deputy Chief of Staff and Deputy General Manager of Institutional Relations of the Argentine Central Bank; Y Gerald Johnson, by Trinidad and Tobago.
This Sunday, the candidates are formally presented in a closed-door session before the Board of Governors of the bank, formed by the ministers of Finance or Economy and other economic authorities of the 48 member countries. and to the next Sunday, November 20, these will be the ones who will vote, secretly, who is their chosen candidate to replace the Honduran Queen Irene Mejia, who has held the presidency of the IDB in recent weeks, after the dismissal of the American of Cuban origin Mauricio Claver-Carone.
The latter lost the confidence of the Assembly after an external investigation confirmed that had a romantic relationship with a subordinate, who received several raises in salary.
The former president was elected in September 2020 and became the first non-Latin American to hold the position. He did it in the midst of controversy since the then US president donald trump he nominated him shortly before the end of his term.
The United States managed to make Claver-Carone win then, after obtaining the support of several Latin American countries such as Colombia, Brazil, Bolivia or Uruguay, after the region failed to present a candidate that generated consensus.
In the vote that will be held on Sunday the 20th, the countries vote with different voting capacity. The United States has the largest, 30%; followed by Argentina and Brazil, with 11.3%, respectively; and Mexico, with 7.2%.
The winner, who is elected for a period of five years (and with the possibility of re-election), must also have the support of at least 15 of the 28 countries region of.
The IDB is the main funding source for the development of Latin America and the Caribbean and offers loans, donations and technical assistance to the countries. Of the total of 48 members, 26 of them are borrowers.
EFE
