President removed from the IDB accuses Paulo Guedes of retaliation

Removed after an investigation concluded that he had a close relationship with a subordinate, disregarding the institution’s rules, the outgoing president of the IDB (Inter-American Development Bank), Mauricio Claver-Carone, said in an interview this Wednesday (28) that the minister of Economy, Paulo Guedes, threatened to turn Brazil against him if he did not accept government nominations for positions in the institution.

“Brazil wanted positions in the vice presidency. If I didn’t name specific people, they would be against it. I voted against it, because frankly they weren’t qualified people for those positions and they declared war on me”, he said in an interview with Canal NTN24.

In the interview with journalist Gustau Alegret, the former president also stated that Argentina asked him to support certain contracts within the organization in exchange for support.

According to him, Argentina asked for the appointment of the executive vice president and Brazil wanted positions.

Claver-Carone also held Joe Biden’s government responsible for his departure, by pushing several countries to withdraw their initial support for him.

“There was obvious pressure here from the White House. There were calls for countries they were supporting to go against me,” he declared.

The directors of the IDB voted this Monday (26) for the resignation of the president.

An independent ethical investigation would have found evidence that he was involved in an intimate relationship with a senior official for whom he had made employment decisions, including salary increases totaling more than 45% of base salary in less than a year.

He denies the allegations and said there is no convincing evidence.