Support for postponing the election of the president of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)
The members of the CLACSO Working Groups “Regional Integration and Latin American Unity”; “Social Security and Pension Systems”; “International Health and Health Sovereignty”; “China and the Map of World Power”; “Studies on the United States” and “Crisis, Responses and Alternatives in the Greater Caribbean”We hereby state the following:
We reject the nomination of President Donald Trump's proposed candidate for the presidency of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) because it violates the long-standing principle that the position be held by a candidate recommended by the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, where the majority of the Bank's financed projects are located. This commitment and practice have been maintained harmoniously for six decades.
In this regard, we agree with and support the statements made by members of the political and diplomatic community of the region and Europe, who have emphatically proposed postponing the election so that it can be held in person during the IDB Annual Meeting scheduled for March 17-21, 2021 in the city of Barranquilla (Colombia), considering that the conditions are far from favorable for the reflective and in-depth debate that this decision requires.
We note with concern that candidate Mauricio Claver-Carone has the pre-announced support of the United States and other countries, but given that the meeting needs to reach the required level for the vote to take place, quorum regulatory, which depends not only on the participation of an absolute majority of countries, but also on them having at least 75% of the institution's voting power.
We support the decision of the governments of Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, and Mexico to prevent the election. These four nations together hold 22,2% of the votes, and only 2,9% is needed to surpass the threshold required to validate this position. We urge the governments that have not yet declared their position to push for a lack of quorum and ensure that the vote takes place in March 2021.
We consider it of fundamental importance that the countries that have not yet signed the Statement of support for Claver-Carone issued by the Colombian Foreign Ministry (Canada, Barbados, Belize, Nicaragua, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago and Uruguay), join the position of Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Mexico.
We emphasize that the objections to Claver-Carone's candidacy transcend his nationality and focus on his career and his ideologically driven vision of inter-American relations, which many countries do not share, such as the intensification of sanctions, blockades, and embargoes against Cuba and the application of the same tactics to confront the Venezuelan government led by Nicolás Maduro, without producing the expected political changes.
In addition, the Democratic Party considers him "unqualified" to lead the institution, at a time when it is necessary to expand the IDB's capital to support Latin American governments and societies in facing the economic and social effects caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
We are convinced that despite the threats from the US candidate Claver-Carone to "deeply confront" the governments that try to block his election on September 12 and 13, it is essential to keep the presidency of the IDB in the hands of a representative from our region and reject the imposition of alignment with any of the hegemonic powers in conflict.
Latin America and the Caribbeane
August 25th, 2020
CLACSO Working Groups
Regional integration and Latin American unity
Social security and pension systems
International health and health sovereignty
China and the map of world power
Studies on the United States
Crisis, responses and alternatives in the Greater Caribbean
This statement expresses the position of the aforementioned Working Groups and not necessarily that of the centers and institutions that make up the CLACSO international network, its Steering Committee or its Executive Secretariat.
