(CNN Español) – Just over four months after arriving at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Mauricio Claver-Carone reflects on the scenario that will come after the Covid-19 pandemic, talks about his plans to give the institution a younger footprint, and remember what it was like to work in the US as an advisor to former President Donald Trump.
In an interview with Marcelo Longobardi, the IDB president said that, as has happened in Europe after the bubonic plague, there will be a “renaissance of labor mobility, innovation and consumption” after the current health crisis. He assured that the role of his organization will be to guide the opportunities that arise after this phase.
In addition, he said they plan to fund the vaccination plans of several partner countries. “We have launched a $ 1 billion program for this. It was one of the priorities in my first 100 days, ”he said. So far, the countries that have access to these funds have been Belize, Bahamas, Nicaragua, Honduras, Ecuador and the Dominican Republic.
Prior to joining the IDB, Claver-Carone served as Legal Adviser to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency of the United States Treasury Department and that country’s Executive Director for the International Monetary Fund (IMF), as well as Deputy Assistant to the former U.S. President Donald Trump and Senior Director for Western Hemisphere Affairs on the National Security Council.
His nomination for the IDB was promoted by Trump himself and drew criticism from several South American leaders, both for his career and for being the first American to be nominated for the position.
Regarding this controversy, Claver-Carone stated that he knows it is not made of “gold or chocolate so that everyone will like it”, but stressed that it has managed to generate consensus and maintain a fluid dialogue with the representatives of all member countries.
In addition, he emphasized that at the age of 45 he is the youngest president of an international financial institution and that this is important to “generate a new IDB for new generations”.
Longobardi asked him what it was like to work with Donald Trump. Claver-Carone said that “almost 90% of my conversations with the president were about Venezuela. He then had a very clear mandate to help with the democratic transition, the recognition of Juan Guaidó and the establishment of the largest coalition of modern democracy ”.
He also cited the transition process of the US government and the attack on the Capitol on January 6. The IDB president said that for him, “Trump’s response after the election was very unfortunate.” He added that he was the first leader of a global financial institution to “immediately recognize and congratulate then-elected President Joe Biden in November.”
Regarding Biden, he noted that “he is a person who cares about Latin America and the Caribbean” and believes he has a “truly unique opportunity to present a coherent and bipartisan vision of the United States. in favor of economic recovery and development in the region “.
The full interview with Mauricio Claver-Crone is out next Sunday, Jan. 31, “In Dialogue with Longobardi,” at 9pm in Miami, 11pm in Buenos Aires, on CNN en Español.