Trump's IDB candidate accuses Argentina of trying to "hijack the election" of the new president

The United States candidate to head the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Mauricio Claver-Carone, on Tuesday accused Argentina of undertaking "an impeding tactic" to "try to hijack the election" scheduled for September, after the country South American will organize a strategy to postpone the process to elect the new president of the institution. President Donald Trump's strongman for Latin America has been on the phone with the international press and has spoken in Spanish about the questioning of his candidacy and the growing consensus to postpone the election to March 2021.

Claver-Carone has pointed without hesitation to the government of Alberto Fernández whom he has accused of bringing together “a minority” to prevent his election to head of the IDB. "They want to steal the ball and get off the field," he claimed. Argentina and the European Union were the first to pay attention to the nomination, for the first time in history, of an American to head the bank and suggested the postponement of the election with their sights set on the outcome of the presidential elections in the United States. UU and the possibility that the tenant of the White House is not Trump. In recent days, support for the Argentine strategy has grown: Mexico, Chile and Costa Rica have opted to absent themselves in the September vote in order to avoid the quorum of 75% of the voting power of the partners to validate the result . Other countries are still evaluating their participation. AccordingThe Los Angeles Times , diplomatic sources assure that Canada could join the Argentine bloc in the coming days.

The IDB, founded in 1959, has a capital of more than $ 100 billion. It is the largest regional bank and has the United States as its main contributor. With credits of 12,000 million, it leads the list of development aid in the continent. An unwritten agreement reserves the bank's management to a Latin American, but Trump decided this year to run for Claver-Carone. "What makes me less Hispanic?" Says the American candidate of Cuban descent and promoter of the Latin American agenda in the White House. "The United States is the second country with the most people who speak Spanish, after Mexico," he argues.

The election was ensured by the support of the United States, which has 30% of the votes, Brazil (11.3%), Colombia (3.1%) and other Latin American countries committed to Washington. But Trump's advance did not go down well in the European Union and, above all, in Argentina, which has its own candidate: Gustavo Beliz, current secretary for Strategic Affairs in the Casa Rosada. Without the votes necessary to beat Claver-Carone, the only possible way out is postponement. The head of European Union diplomacy, Josep Borrell, sent a letter in July to all the Eurogroup countries to warn that the US candidate would break with a dominant Latin American model.

Claver-Carone boasts the support of at least 17 countries and ensures that there are European members among them. "Mr. Borrell's opinion is personal and does not represent the vote of European countries in the IDB," he says. According to different sources consulted by this newspaper, the community spirit is to follow Borrell's recommendation, certainly in Spain (1.94% of the vote) and closer to yes than no in Germany (1.89%) and France (1.89%). The support of these three European countries, plus the votes of Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica and Mexico are enough to consummate the abstentionist strategy.

The main argument of the US candidate is that the countries that participate in the bank unanimously decided on July 9 to hold the September vote by teleconference, when the context of the suspension of activities due to the coronavirus pandemic already existed. Claver-Carone, in addition, has assured that he will remain in charge of the bank for a period of five years and that he will not seek re-election. "The United States has no imperialist intention," he said. The Trump candidate has appealed to the work that the United States has undertaken in the region to promote the sending of resources, for example, in the case of Mexico and Central America, where Washington allocated 5,000 million dollars to boost local employment and prevent migration towards the United States.