Mauricio Claver-Carone
Mauricio Claver-Carone (born 1975) is president of the Inter-American Development Bank, a position he has held since October 2020. He is an international development official, a former senior director at the U.S. National Security Council, a former senior advisor at the U.S. Treasury Department, a lawyer, and a former lobbyist. Early life and education. Claver-Carone was born in Miami, Florida, to parents of Cuban and Spanish descent. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Rollins College, Juris Doctor from The Catholic University of America and Master of Laws in International and Comparative Law  from Georgetown University Law Center. Career. Inter-American Development Bank. In June 2020, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced its intention to nominate Claver-Carone for the president of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the principal source of long-term financing for economic, social and institutional development in Latin America and the Caribbean. His nomination generated a mixed reaction among the Bank’s member countries, as the institution’s presidency was historically reserved for a citizen of one of its borrowing member countries. He was elected by the IDB’s Board of Directors on September 12, 2020, for  a five-year term beginning on October 1, 2020. Thirty of the Bank's 48 governors voted for him (67% of total shareholding), including 23 out of the 28 regional governors. As president, he oversees the operations of the IDB Group, comprising the IDB, which works with the region’s governments; IDB Invest, which works with the region’s private sector; and IDB Lab, which incubates innovative development projects. Claver-Carone is leading the Bank's continuing response to the immediate impacts of COVID-19 in the region, including $1 billion to support countries’ vaccine purchases and distribution plans, and  a first-of-its-kind guarantee to help borrowing member countries better compete to obtain vaccines. He also spearheaded the implementation of Vision 2025, the Bank's blueprint for regional recovery and sustainable, inclusive growth. Approved by the Board of Governors at the 2021 Annual Meeting, it identifies five key areas for development that will guide the Bank’s efforts: integration and nearshoring; digitalization; support for small businesses; gender equality; and climate change. Claver-Carone has also emphasized the role of the private sector in driving the region's recovery and growth, establishing a coalition of more than 120 global  corporate executives, among other new efforts in this area. He is also leading the effort to secure a capital increase for the Bank, which would allow it to boost its lending to help counter the effects of COVID-19 and further address entrenched economic problems in the region. The prospect has garnered bipartisan support in the U.S. Congress. Claver-Carone is pursuing a reform and modernization effort within the IDB, aiming to increase operational efficiency, productivity and transparency to enable better results, impact and monitoring. Government positions and IMF role. From 2017 to 2018, Claver-Carone was Senior Advisor for International  Affairs at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, where he was a principal policy advisor to the Secretary of the Treasury and to the Under Secretary for International Affairs on geopolitical, national security and economic issues. He then served as acting U.S. Executive Director at the International Monetary Fund, representing the United States on the Executive Board. He played an important role in lending arrangements for Argentina, Barbados and Ecuador, and revolving credit lines for Colombia and Mexico. In September 2018, Claver-Carone was appointed Special Assistant to U.S. President Donald Trump and Senior Director for Western Hemisphere Affairs on  the National Security Council. In 2019, he was promoted to become a Deputy Assistant to the President. In this role, Claver-Carone is credited for creating the U.S. government's maximum-pressure campaign against the Maduro regime in Venezuela and for conceptualizing the "América Crece" economic growth strategy and frameworks. He was also selected by President Trump to represent the United States in inauguration delegations to Brazil, Panama and Uruguay. Claver-Carone also helped design the Better Utilization of Investments Leading to Development (BUILD) Act of 2018, which created the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation. He also spearheaded the first  White House-led Western Hemisphere Strategic Framework for U.S. inter-agency policy guidance and development since 2004. Early career. Claver-Carone began his career as an Attorney-Advisor for the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of the Comptroller, where he provided counsel on banking laws, capital requirements and securitizations. He was also a Clinical Assistant Professor at The Catholic University of America’s School of Law, an Adjunct Professor at The George Washington University’s National Law Center and a Research Fellow at Georgetown University’s Law Center for the Americas. Cuba policy. Before joining the U.S. government , Claver-Carone was Executive Director of Cuba Democracy Advocates, a lobbying organization for human rights, free markets and the rule of law in Cuba. Other. Claver-Carone has provided congressional testimony before the Committees on Agriculture, Foreign Affairs, the Judiciary and Natural Resources of the United States House of Representatives. He has written for "HuffPost", "The Wall Street Journal" and "The New York Times", among other publications. He has also published in academic journals, including the "Georgetown Journal of International Law" and the "Yale Journal of International Affairs". "Poder Magazine" recognized him as one of 20 entrepreneurs, executives, leaders and  artists under 40 who are shaping the future of the U.S. and the world. Claver-Carone hosted the bilingual foreign-policy show “From Washington al Mundo” on Sirius-XM Radio. He also co-founded a data-software start-up company.