After an alleged intimate scandal came to light last April involving the president of the Inter-American Development Bank, Mauricio Claver-Carone, with one of her subordinates, a formal investigation was opened (following an anonymous complaint) within the entity.
For this reason, the board has just made public that it unanimously recommended dismissing the official. They were all fourteen directors of the bank who voted following four long days of discussions in favor of the decision.
The final decision will now be made by the board of governors, which is the highest body of the bank and which must vote in the coming days to reach a definitive conclusion.
What is the scandal regarding?
The anonymous complaint that initiated the investigation warned that Claver-Carone had violated some of the institution’s rules, especially in terms of the code of ethics, by becoming romantically involved with one of his subordinates and having incurred in a bad practice, by seeking to excessively increase the salary of the person with whom he had a relationship.
Among the evidence found by the investigators, and which this week has been taken up by some international media, there would be evidence of two salary increases, in significant percentages, in favor of the official indicated to maintain a affair with Claver-Carone.
The final report of the investigation specifies that the salary increase in favor of the woman, who works as a senior strategist, according to the complaint made known in April 2022, went from a salary of US$287,000 per year in September 2020, to US$350,000, just a few weeks later. That is, an increase of 20%.
In that same sense, in July 2021 another increase in favor of women was announced, raising her salary once more by 20%, to reach a total of US$420,000 per year.
According to the results of the investigation, the official refused to provide some of the requested information, including access to review conversations held from his cell phone, where more evidence of the improper relationship might be found, which, according to the anonymous , it might have started even before the woman’s employment with the IDB.
In this sense, the report also warns that the woman also did not agree to collaborate with the corresponding investigation.
For his part, Claver had warned that the investigations that have been carried out once morest him have been favorable for him, he had described the investigation as rigged for having started from an anonymous complaint and had affirmed that nothing supported the accusations that were formulated in the anonymous in once morest him, and that they were only aimed at staining his name.
A controversial appointment
Claver-Carone’s arrival at the IDB in 2020 was marked by a growing controversy, since since 1959 this lawyer is the only president of the Institution who is not of Latin American origin, despite having Cuban and Spanish roots. He was an adviser to US President Donald Trump and his mandate was to last five years. He has extensive experience lobbying in Washington, as director of pressure groups in favor of Cuba, to achieve the island’s transition to democracy and free markets.
Several former presidents such as Fernando Henrique Cardoso, from Brazil, Ernesto Zedillo (Mexico) and Juan Manuel Santos (Colombia) issued a joint statement at the time in which they described Claver-Carone’s candidacy as an “aggression once morest Latin American dignity”, for disregard the normal procedures of the organization.
The United States is the largest shareholder of the Inter-American Development Bank with 30% of its voting shares. Information has been leaked that suggests that this country would be in favor of the official’s departure.
