Heine Discusses IDB Leadership with Deutsche Welle
Ambassador Jorge Heine, Research Professor at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University, was quoted in a Deutsche Welle article on Mauricio Claver-Carone and his new role as president of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
The article, titled “IDB: Donald Trump managed to prevail with Mauricio Claver-Carone,” discusses the election of Claver-Carone and how it breaks an unspoken tradition that IDB leadership shall always be in the hands of a Latin American. Smaller IDB member countries worry that the U.S. will politicize the IDB and use it to combat China’s increasing role in the region.
Heine previously expressed concern about the Trump administration’s push for American leadership at the IDB, and was disappointed with the election of Claver-Carone. The IDB will play a key role in helping Latin America tackle the economic crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic, and Heine noted that the U.S. is just trying to exert its influence in Latin American, which puts the future effectiveness of the bank at risk.
An excerpt:
‘Claver-Carone wants to transform the IDB into the financial arm of the United States in Latin America,’ believes Jorge Heine, Chile’s former ambassador to China and currently a professor of international relations at Boston University. In an interview with the Spanish newspaper El País , Claver-Carone said that ‘the best we can do is (…) make the IDB a true financial power. It is much better this way for the United States and the region than seeking funds from other countries desperately.’ The idea is that China’s role as the region’s creditor should be reduced.
The full article can be read here.
Other articles by Heine on this matter can be found in CLARIN, The Hill, and La Tercera.
Ambassador Jorge Heine is a Research Professor at the Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University. He has served as ambassador of Chile to China (2014-2017), to India (2003-2007) and to South Africa (1994-1999), and as a Cabinet Minister in the Chilean Government. Read more on him here.