A Trump adviser to head the Inter-American Development Bank, a first

Mauricio Claver-Carone, here January 15, 2020 in Bolivia.

AP Photo / Juan Karita

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2 min

From this Thursday, the IDB, the Inter-American Development Bank will have a new president: Mauricio Claver-Carone, an American national.

A first in the history of this important multilateral institution and a brutal break with the rule which had until now reserved the strategic post for a Latin American.

The arrival of Mauricio Claver-Carone at the head of the IDB for five years raises concerns in Latin America, since he is a close advisor to Donald Trump.

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For the past four years, Mauricio Claver-Carone has been the architect of Donald Trump's policy in Latin America.

It is he who is, for example, at the origin of

sharp hardening of

, Venezuela and Nicaragua.

The 45-year-old Cuban American was an influential lobbyist against the Cuban regime before winning the president's confidence.

With his arrival as President of the IDB, Mauricio Claver-Carone promises more US dollars in the future for this institution which is the main source of funding for Latin America and the Caribbean.

Funding welcome in a region where the coronavirus pandemic has thrown millions of people into poverty and accentuated inequalities.

But Mauricio Claver-Carone's detractors fear that he will act primarily as the armed wing of the Trump administration.

Mauricio Claver-Carone has already announced that he will try to push back the influence of China in Latin America and that projects related to the fight against global warming or even gender equality would no longer do. part of the Bank's priorities.

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