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The once venerable American integration bank became the epicenter of a very frequent controversy in these times when abuses are revealed, denounced and exposed but very rarely in the financial media. It so happens that apparently the current president of the IDB developed a close friendship with an employee, which is prohibited by the institution’s code of ethics, which requires the departure of one of the two protagonists and the disclosure of the matter to the human resources department.
The event has led many opinion crats to indicate that a return should be made to the practice of appointing a Latin American citizen as president of this institution. As is known, there was an unwritten rule since the foundation of the bank in which the United States, with the purpose of promoting economic integration between Latin American nations and between them and their economy, decided not to exercise their right to appoint the president of the bank. In other words, the majority shareholder decided to allow the minority shareholders to choose the president. But 63 years later, the laudable purposes of the United States do not seem to have materialized into a reality.
The nations of Latin America have not only failed to integrate economically despite the fact that in addition to the IDB there are 7 agencies responsible for promoting integration in the region. And for this reason, the IDB has become the best think tank in the world on integration matters, but it has utterly failed to promote the development of the commercial infrastructure that would have made the economies of Latin America more competitive. Objective that was in the heart of the creators of the bank.
Then you have to wonder. What if, in 61 years under the leadership of Latin Americans, it has not been possible to build the infrastructure that the China Development Bank is financing today? What is the reason to replace the current president with a Latin American? Perhaps the best thing would be for the IDB’s board of directors to study the tragic situation of Latin American infrastructure well, design a plan to begin the construction of a platform for trade worthy of the 21st century and seek among the most outstanding experts in the matter a leader for the bank who is capable of executing it and thereby take the region out of the 19th century.
Returning to the issue of the national origin of the president of the IDB is frankly nineteenth-century and sterile. Because for the bank to fulfill its mission, it must have a leader who really knows how world trade operates. And this person should be chosen for his abilities and skills, not his nationality.
This article is part of an agreement between El American and the Interamerican Institute for Democracy.
Beatrice Rangel es directora del Interamerican Institute for Democracy, Managing Director de AMLA Consulting, responsable de negociar e implementar estrategias y adquisiciones de inversión corporativas en América Latina y el Caribe. Exmiembro ejecutivo de Wharton School de la Universidad de Pennsylvania // Beatrice Rangel is Director of the Interamerican Institute for Democracy, Managing Director of AMLA Consulting, responsible for negotiating and implementing corporate investment strategies and acquisitions in Latin America and the Caribbean. Former Executive Fellow of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.