Candidates from Colombia and Argentina compete in Mexico for CAF presidency

the Latin American Development Bank (CAF) will elect its new CEO after the resignation of Peruvian Luis Carranza, disputed position between Colombian candidate Sergio Díaz-Granados and Argentinian Christian Asinelli.

The election will take place in a Private mixed meeting at the National Palace of Mexico, seat of the Mexican government and residence of the president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, informed Efe this Sunday of sources of the organization.

CAF, whose initials correspond to its former name of Andean Development Company, is an organization made up of 19 shareholder countries (17 Latin Americans, plus Spain and Portugal, and 13 private banks), based in Caracas and in charge of financing development projects and promoting regional integration in Latin America.

The two candidates for the presidency of CAF for the period 2021-2026 are the Colombian Sergio Díaz-Granados (Santa Marta, 1968), current Executive Director for Colombia at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), and the Argentinian Christian Asinelli. (Buenos Aires, 1975), undersecretary of international financial relations for the development of the Argentine government.

The next president of CAF, considered the second development bank in the region after the IDB, you will need at least 10 votes and he will be re-eligible within five years.

Díaz-Granados, who was Colombian Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism between 2010 and 2013, has the explicit support from countries like Brazil, Chile, Ecuador and Uruguay, while the candidacy of Asinelli has the support of countries like Bolivia, Venezuela, the Dominican Republic or Portugal.

The virtual winner of the Peruvian presidential elections, leftist Pedro Castillo, has supported Asinelli, but the delay in his official proclamation benefits Díaz-Granados, supported by the outgoing administration of Peru.

According to the confidence in the environment of Colombian President Iván Duque, this Monday Díaz-Granados would have 11 votes, one more than necessary to be elected president.

Analysts said the postponement of the CEO election and interim status could affect the bank’s operations at a time when the economic and social effects of the CIVID-19 pandemic in the region must be minimized.

The Latin American Development Bank is generally not the center of attention in the Southern Cone due to its Andean DNA. However, this process of renewal of authorities is going through a curious upheaval and a set of movements throughout the region that began when the Peruvian Luis Carranza tendered his resignation over allegations of workplace harassment. Since then, CAF has been in the hands of a trainee.

In 51 years of operation, this Development Bank, little known to the general public, has become, with the IDB, a key financial player for the development of the region. And now, the lesson of its president has become key, since it will be he who will decide the role that CAF will play in the economic recovery and development of the region after the pandemic.

This election comes after the resignation last March of the then executive president, the Peruvian Luis Carranza, who denounced the pressures of certain countries and the “interest in politicizing” the actions of the development bank. Carranza complained that the directive of CAF no respaldara el nombramiento de Bernardo Requena como presidente en Programas de Países y denunció that los directivos de Argentina the solicitaron that designara como vicepresidente a una persona, cuya identidad no reveló, that “no reunía las condiciones para load”.

During the administration of Carranza, charges of mass dismissals and harassment at work against him, as reported by Alejandra Claros, former coordinator of the organization’s secretariat.

Of Peruvian nationality, Luis Carranza Ugarte was elected by a large majority executive president of CAF during an extraordinary meeting of the institution’s board of directors on December 13, 2016. Carranza was Peruvian Minister of the Economy and Finance twice, in addition to a prominent economist who worked at the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

(With information from EFE and AFP)

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