[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 117 (Thursday, June 25, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3306-S3307]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  THE INTER-AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. Presisent, according to press reports, the Trump 
administration plans to nominate Mauricio Claver-Carone to be the next 
president of the Inter-American Development Bank, IDB. It is also my 
understanding that a number of Latin American governments have already 
expressed support for his nomination.
  As someone who has supported the IDB for decades, including at times 
when amendments were proposed to eliminate or reduce the U.S. 
contribution, it is important to be aware that this nomination could 
jeopardize U.S. support for and cooperation with that institution. 
Further, if the U.S. Treasury Department and other IDB shareholders 
believe this nominee will help to build support for a capital increase 
for the Bank in the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee, of which I am 
vice chairman, Mr. Claver-Carone is the wrong nominee to make the case 
for such an increase.
  This nomination would break a 60-year precedent that a Latin American 
serves as president of the IDB and a U.S. citizen serves as executive 
vice president. That precedent exists for a reason. The Bank is an 
institution working to improve the lives of millions of people in Latin 
America and the Caribbean, and absent a compelling reason to the 
contrary, it should continue to be led by a person from the region it 
serves. There are any number of Latin Americans who are well-qualified 
for the job and who would be supported by the United States.
  I am disappointed, albeit not surprised, that the Trump Treasury 
Department would nominate such a controversial candidate as Mr. Claver-
Carone. As senior director for Western Hemisphere Affairs at the 
National Security Council, he has been the architect of President 
Trump's most ideologically driven policies toward Latin America, 
policies that have failed to achieve any of their stated goals. In 
fact, these ineffective policies have made resolving conflicts with 
governments we disagree with more difficult, and they have complicated 
our relations with friends and allies.
  Mr. Claver-Carone's idea of diplomacy is often to admonish and impose 
sanctions, which in Latin America more often than not means unilateral 
sanctions, which have isolated the United States, emboldened those who 
the sanctions are intended to punish, and harmed people in those 
countries who we want to help. While there are circumstances when well-
designed sanctions make sense, Mr. Claver-Carone seems to believe that 
even when it is obvious that sanctions have failed the solution is to 
tighten them rather than fix them. This approach to regional problems 
is wholly unsuited for the IDB, whose shareholders have traditionally 
supported the institution, in part, because of its long history of 
addressing regional priorities. A polarizing American at the helm could 
intensify divisions, weaken shareholder support, and diminish the 
Bank's ability to carry out its mission on behalf of the people it was 
established to serve.
  I also worry that a Claver-Carone presidency at the IDB would set the 
Bank on a collision course with its largest shareholder, the United 
States, should Vice President Biden win in November. Electing Mr. 
Claver-Carone to a 5-year term just weeks before the U.S. Presidential 
election, coupled with his unpopularity with some Members of Congress, 
including key members of the Senate and House Appropriations 
Committees, would not bode well for U.S. support for the Bank in the 
coming years.
  For these reasons, I urge the IDB board of governors to carefully 
consider the enormity of the economic, public health, political, and 
other challenges currently confronting Latin America, and the 
implications of Mr. Claver-Carone's election shortly before the U.S. 
Presidential election. These challenges have been greatly compounded by 
the COVID-19 pandemic, which will have grave ramifications for the 
social, economic, and political stability of the region for years to 
come.
  The need for steady IDB leadership that can build consensus during 
this time of regional uncertainty has never been more evident than it 
is today.
  I ask unanimous consent that an article in The Economist on the 
Claver-Carone nomination be printed in the Record.

[[Page S3307]]

  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                  [From the Economist, June 20, 2020]

     A Gringo Takeover Bid for the Inter-American Development Bank


            The United States breaks a gentlemen's agreement

       Since it was founded in 1959, the Inter-American 
     Development Bank (idb) has had just four presidents: a 
     Chilean, a Mexican, a Uruguayan and, since 2005, Luis Alberto 
     Moreno, a Colombian. Under the gentlemen's agreement by which 
     it was founded, Latin America has the presidency and a small 
     majority of the capital while the United States has the 
     number-two job and some informal vetoes over how the bank is 
     run. The idb has not been free of the faults of such 
     institutions, such as bureaucracy and a degree of cronyism, 
     but it has played an important role in the region. It lends 
     around $12bn a year for infrastructure, health, education and 
     so on, does some useful research and advises governments. It 
     has also been a channel of communication between the two 
     halves of the Americas.
       Donald Trump doesn't believe in gentlemen's agreements, and 
     his administration this week broke this one. The Treasury 
     Department named Mauricio Claver-Carone, the top official for 
     Latin America at the National Security Council (nsc), as its 
     candidate to replace Mr Moreno, who is due to step down in 
     September. Mr Claver-Carone, a Cuban-American, is technically 
     qualified for the post. He has been an adviser to the 
     Treasury and a representative to the imf, and was involved in 
     the Trump administration's initiatives on development 
     finance. He has told interlocutors that he would serve only 
     one term at the idb, would bring fresh ideas and would be 
     better placed than a Latin American to get the Treasury's 
     crucial support for a capital increase that would give the 
     bank resources to mitigate the covid-19 slump in the region. 
     These are things that many in Latin America might welcome.
       But Mr Claver-Carone is a controversial choice, and not 
     just because his nomination breaks with tradition. At the nsc 
     he has been the chief architect of Mr Trump's Venezuela 
     policy, which has failed in its aim of getting rid of the 
     dictatorship of Nicolas Maduro. ``He's a guy who comes with 
     very Miami-type baggage, adversarial to Cuba and Venezuela 
     and representing a conservative alliance,'' says a Latin 
     American diplomat. ``He would bring ideology directly into 
     the bank.'' Mr Claver-Carone walked out of the inauguration 
     of Argentina's president, Alberto Fernandez, in December 
     because of the presence of a Venezuelan minister. Many who 
     have dealt with him describe him as arrogant and 
     confrontational.
       Given the Trump administration's cold war against China, Mr 
     Claver-Carone's appointment as head of the idb might force 
     Latin America to choose between the two countries, which the 
     region is reluctant to do. Although China is granting fewer 
     loans to Latin America than it did recently, it remains one 
     of the region's most important trade partners. The Trump 
     administration was furious with Mr Moreno for agreeing to 
     hold the bank's annual meeting in China in 2019 (though in 
     the event it was delayed and moved to Ecuador because of a 
     row over who represented Venezuela). Mr Claver-Carone has his 
     own animus against Mr Moreno, who vetoed his appointment as 
     the bank's vice-president.
       For Latin America the loss of the idb presidency would be a 
     big diplomatic defeat, reflecting the region's weakness and 
     ideological division. Its leaders are a generally 
     unimpressive bunch. They have failed to unite behind a 
     candidate of their own. Diplomats expected the job to go 
     either to Brazil or to Argentina. Jair Bolsonaro's government 
     in Brazil informally canvassed support for Rodrigo Xavier, an 
     experienced banker. Argentina's putative candidate, Gustavo 
     Beliz, is a competent former idb official, but its centreleft 
     government has few allies in the region. Brazil looks likely 
     to back Mr Claver-Carone, mainly because Mr Bolsonaro has 
     aligned himself closely with Mr Trump. Other smaller 
     countries may, too, because they are desperate for money.
       The new president must secure a double majority, of 
     countries representing 50% of the idb's shares (the United 
     States has 30% and Brazil 11%) and separately of the 28 
     members in the Americas. That may yet be a problem for Mr 
     Claver-Carone.
       The biggest reason to oppose his nomination is that he 
     represents a polarising administration that may well lose an 
     election in November, making him ``the earliest lame duck in 
     history'', as a South American official puts it. The sensible 
     course would be to extend Mr Moreno's term until next year, 
     both to give time for other candidates to emerge and to see 
     whether Mr Claver-Carone really represents the United States

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