Vandalism Against Multilateral Systems: El País

The United States has withdrawn from many global organizations, reducing its own leadership role while enhancing influence for China and Russia. Latin American governments could respond to the Trump administration’s efforts to place a US citizen in charge of the Inter-American Development Bank, disrupting traditional governance. The administration often selects individuals who reject the mission of the organization they lead. “This action is in clear contravention of a longstanding understanding and practice that, in exchange for the institution being headquartered in Washington D.C., its head would always be a Latin American with an American as the bank’s deputy,” writes Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de León, Yale professor and former president of Mexico. “That feature of the IDB’s governance was one of several that made the institution exemplary, in fact a pioneer among international financial institutions.” With the Covid-19 pandemic disrupting global affairs, Zedillo urges Latin American states to unite around delay in the appointment of the IDB president – and for that matter, a president of the World Trade Organization – until 2021. Even if US voters reelect Donald Trump, Zedillo concludes, he may realize the danger of unorthodox appointments for US national interests. – YaleGlobal