Two main candidates are lining up to replace Enrique Iglesias as president of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the biggest multilateral development bank in Latin America. Mr Iglesias, who has held the position since 1988, has decided to step down at the end of September.
One candidate, backed by Brazil, a leading Latin American nation, and (with Argentina), the IDB’s second biggest shareholder, is João Sayad. The São Paulo banker and Yale graduate is a vice-president at the IDB.
Meanwhile, Peru is widely expected to field its minister of finance, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski. He is an Oxford University graduate and a former chairman of First Boston International.
Bar last-minute developments before the July 16 deadline for nominations, the choice of who will be the next IDB boss may be between the lesser-known (and younger) Mr Sayad, representing Brazil’s left-leaning government, and Mr Kuczynski, who is well known but controversial.
While finance minister in the 1990s, Mr Kuczynski sponsored a privatisation plan in Arequipa, Peru, which led to riots and the downfall of the government. He also holds dual US and Peruvian citizenship, which might be a handicap because previous IDB heads have always been only Latin American nationals.
A decision will be made on July 27, when the new appointee must be approved by a majority of shareholders and at least 15 countries in the Americas (Latin America plus the US and Canada). That gives both the US, which has 30% of the shares, and Latin America, if it is united, a de facto veto.
Insiders at the IDB are ‘guess-timating’ how some of the bigger Latin American countries, and the US, will line up. The US, they say, is likely to support Mr Kuczynski, whose conservative economic policies chime with those of the Bush government. Colombia, the US’s closest ally in the region, is likely to follow the US lead. Venezuela and Argentina will probably support Mr Sayad. This leaves Chile and Mexico, two countries that have already had IDB heads. What will they do?
Mr Iglesias, a former Uruguayan foreign minister, is due to head up a new permanent secretariat for Ibero-American summits – the annual gatherings of Latin American heads of state with Spain and Portugal.
