Two candidates are vying for the presidency of CAF, the second largest development bank in Latin America

The CAF will select two candidates for its new president next Monday. This is an important position for the region as the bank will fund most of the public works that mitigate the effects of the epidemic. Applicants are Colombian Sergio Diaz Granados and Argentina Christian Asinelli.

The company started operations in 1968 and was originally a multinational bank made up of Andean countries. However, after various expansions, it is important for the region and the world. In fact, Spain and Portugal became partners in 2002 and 2009 and provided the CAF with an Ibero-American profile.

Today it is the second largest growth bank in the region, after IDP, with 19 partner countries, 14 non-Andean, and $ 28,000 million in debt and investment portfolio.

Thiaz Granados and Christian Asinelli need to collect 10 votes to win the presidency, And whoever wins will make history: Dias Granados’ victory was primary for the Colombians, despite being in the country with Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela and Bolivia, one of the founders of the Andean Development Corporation; Acinelli was also not released because it was not part of the Argentine founding board.

Diaz-Granados is a lawyer at the University of Externado, Colombia, where he served as Minister of Trade, Industry and Tourism between 2010 and 2013, and is currently the Managing Director of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDP) for Colombia and Peru.

The nomination was announced by a letter signed by Colombian Finance Minister Jose Manuel Restrepo; Luis Alberto Rodriguez, Director of the National Planning Department (DNP) and Leonardo Willer, Manager of Banco de la Replica. The decision was supported by Ecuador’s Minister of Economy and Finance, Simone Cueva; Peru’s Economy Minister Waldo Mendoza and Cofite de Peru’s President Carlos Linares.

Restrepo pointed it out Thiaz-Granados’ experience in the public sector will be useful to guide the multilateral system. “This is a time when one needs knowledge of compromise, joint construction, international dimension and multilateral issues. It can be a good candidate.”Restrepo said.

Your application It received the formal support of Ecuador and Peru. Also, according to the belief in the context of President Ivan Duke, he will have 11 votes on Monday, one more than is needed to be elected president.

Achinelli’s appointment was surprising. Alberto Fernandez’s candidate is currently the Under Secretary of State for International Financial RelationsHe works with Gustavo Belize – Secretary of Strategic Affairs – who is an educator and knows how multilateral companies operate.

“It’s not about a country’s candidacy, or about an ideology or circumstantial majority. In Asinelli’s letter of appointment.

Bolivia, Venezuela and Dominican Republic approve Argentina’s formal candidacy. They waited for Mexico to support Assinelli’s appointment, but there was an unexpected bureaucratic problem and the secretary issued guarantees with the Dominican Republic’s alternative signature. Three more votes are still under negotiation.

Unlike IDP, In the CAF, each country has one vote, regardless of the capital contributions it makes to the bank. Only the founding nations of Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela and Bolivia have double votes.

The Development Bank of Latin America is generally not the focus of attention in the southern hemisphere because of its Andean DNA. However, this process of renewing the authorities goes through a series of movements throughout the region that began during an interesting earthquake and the Peruvian Louis Carranza. He submitted his resignation on charges of workplace harassment. Since then, the CAF has been in the hands of a coach.

During its 51-year operation, this little-known development bank, along with IDP, has become an essential financial player for the region’s development. Now, the lesson of its president is important because he will determine what role the CAF will play in the region’s economic recovery and development after the epidemic.

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