NEW YORK, Jan 12 (Reuters) – The new president of the Inter-American Development Bank, Ilan Goldfajn, said on Thursday that the lender is in an ideal position to combat polarization, while aiming to deliver more effective results for Latin America. and the Caribbean.
The Brazilian Goldfajn takes the reins of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) after the board of directors expelled his predecessor, the American Mauricio Claver-Carone, after an investigation that showed that he had an intimate relationship with a subordinate.
The former president of Brazil, the far-right Jair Bolsonaro, proposed Goldfajn as his replacement in October. His appointment faced resistance from the team of the now Brazilian president, Luis Inácio Lula da Silva. At the time, Goldfajn was director of the Western Hemisphere Department of the International Monetary Fund.
In his speech, Goldfajn did not specifically mention the weekend attack on Brazilian institutions by Bolsonaro supporters, or the worst outbreak of violence in Peru in 20 years, which has claimed the lives of at least 40 people.
The Washington-based IDB is a key investor in Latin America and the Caribbean, behind almost 600 ongoing infrastructure, health, tourism and other projects. He was responsible for $23.4 billion in financing and other financial commitments in 2021.
(Reporting by Rodrigo Campos; Editing by Josie Kao; Editing in Spanish by Darío Fernández)
