Source:
IFIs Latin American Monitor
Mon Aug 01 2005
The Colombian ambassador to Washington, Luis Alberto Moreno, was chosen as the new president of the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) in the first round of voting, despite Latin American divisions ahead of the election.
Moreno will take office in October for a five-year term, thus becoming the fourth IADB president. Former presidents were the Chilean Felipe Herrera (1960-1971), the Mexican Antonio Ortiz Mena (1971-1987) and his predecessor, the Uruguayan Enrique Iglesias, who was reelected three times.
Iglesias, unanimously elected in 1988 as sole candidate, resigned to the post in May when he still had three years left to complete his fourth term, upon accepting to head the secretariat of the Ibero-American Summits, with headquarters in Madrid.
Moreno enjoyed the support of the United States and was considered as the favourite candidate to win the presidency, despite Latin American divisions ahead of the vote, which took place at the IADB’s Washington headquarters. Many analysts believe that the US support for Moreno was determinant since this country holds the largest percentage of votes in the institution.
The voting system demands that in order to win the post a candidate needs the support of at least 15 of the IADB’s 28 member countries in the Americas as well as a sizable majority of the other members, among which there are European and Asian countries. The share of votes is proportional to the financial contribution each country makes to the IADB. The United States hold 30% of votes, while the rest of the hemisphere, without taking Canada into account, controls 50% of the vote.
The other candidates for the presidency won by Moreno were the Brazilian IADB vice-president Joao Sayad, his main rival in the election; the Peruvian Economy Minister Pedro Pablo Kuczynski; the former Venezuelan Finance Minister José Alejandro Rojas; and the president of the Nicaraguan Central Bank, Mario Alonso.
Diplomatic sources explained that the Nicaraguan and Venezuelan candidates stood down before the first round of voting, thus distributing the support they had manage to gather in Central America and the Caribbean.
Sources stated that Moreno managed to win the post with the double majority – of countries and capital – required. With regards to the majority of countries, the Colombian ambassador won the support of 20 out of the 28 countries of the Americas (the 26 borrowing countries plus the US and Canada). In terms of voting power or shares, he obtained 50.6 per cent of capital.
The Colombian candidate was backed by Canada, Central America, the Caribbean and some European countries, although most South American countries refused to grant their support. The South American countries that supported Moreno’s nomination were Paraguay, Ecuador and Uruguay. Brazil and Argentina promoted the nomination of the Brazilian candidate, thus leaving the Mercosur divided, which came as a surprise to the Brazilian government.
Sources of the Uruguayan government back this decision, arguing the same as the Ecuadoran ones: on account of “Moreno’s conditions” and because he was the candidate “more likely to reach a consensus”.
The fact that Brazil had nominated a candidate for the World Trade Organization when a consensus had been reached in the region to support the Uruguayan Carlos Pérez del Castillo was insistently being reminded by the Uruguayan Foreign Office. Finally, the Brazilian candidate, Luis Felipe Seixas Correa, stood down and Brasilia reluctantly supported the nomination of Pérez del Castillo. Others linked the decision to an increased pragmatism of Uruguay, taking into account that Moreno would enjoy the support of the United States, the country that became Uruguay’s first buyer of local products and with which an investment treaty is being delayed.
Meanwhile, in Ecuador, human rights organizations that have denounced the effects of Plan Colombia, strongly rejected the vote of the government in favour of Moreno’s nomination.
Moreno: background information, support and detractors
Moreno, Colombian ambassador to the United States since 1998 and former Minister of Economic Development in his country, was supported by Colombian President Álvaro Uribe, who launched a strong campaign in his favour.
In his task as ambassador to the White House, he was instrumental in securing more than $ 3.5 billion in aid for the Plan Colombia within four years. Due to his skills, he was ratified in the post by President Uribe, in spite of having served in the previous administration of conservative President Andrés Pastrana, the author of such plan.
Likewise, he played a key role in the renewal and broadening of the Andean Trade Preference Act (ATPA) granted by the United States to some Andean countries in compensation for their efforts in the war against drugs.
The Plan Colombia has been criticized on several fronts on account of the damages the war against drugs has caused on the ecological balance of the Amazonian basin and the human rights violations in the renewed campaign against rebel groups.
In Colombia, Moreno’s appointment was supported by different economic and political sectors. However, not all sectors of society have a good opinion of the close relationship Moreno maintains with the United States.
According to the Colombian economic analyst Javier Fernández Riva, interviewed by the Colombian newspaper La República, the US support for Moreno could be counterproducing. “The fact that Luis Alberto Moreno is seen as close to the United States is not considered as an asset in Latin America, but rather as a liability. Many people do not like “gringos” to have the power at the World Bank and to a certain extent also at the IADB”, he stated.
Fernández Riva maintains that the IADB’s challenges are mainly focused on structural changes. “I am terribly skeptical towards multilateral institutions, since their contribution has been small if compared to costs. The truth is I have not noticed any changes in Latin America resulting from IADB’s actions, since credits have not been particularly inexpensive in view of market options. The challenges of the multilateral institution, apart from borrowing at lower costs, should be framed in terms of re-addressing and channeling the FTAA and reviewing the scheme of priorities set by countries”.
Source: Reuters, El Comercio (Peru), La República (Colombia), La Jornada (Mexico) and REDES (Uruguay).
Related Information:
BID - Press release
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