Who is the controversial special envoy for Latin America that Donald Trump will have in his government?

The president-elect of the United States, Donald Trump, announced this Sunday the appointment of Mauricio Claver-Carone, former president of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), as the head of the State Department for Latin America.

The American of Cuban origin Claver-Carone took over at the IDB in October 2020, nominated by Trump in his first term (2017-2021), and was dismissed from the institution after an ethics investigation for having an affair with a subordinate and give him a raise.

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Former President Trump, who takes office on January 20, recalled this Sunday that Claver-Carone was the White House’s senior director for Latin America during his first term.

“Mauritius knows the region and knows how to put the interests of the United States FIRST. He also knows the terrible threats we face from illegal mass migration and fentanyl,” Trump said on the Truth Social social network.

The son of a Spaniard and a Cuban woman, Claver-Carone has experience in the White House, the International Monetary Fund and the Treasury. He is also known for his criticism of Cuba and Venezuela.

He was elected in September 2020 as president of the IDB and became the first non-Latin American to hold the position. He did so in the midst of controversy since then-President Trump nominated him shortly before the end of his first term. The Latin American countries were not able to define a joint candidate, with Colombia, Brazil, Bolivia or Uruguay supporting the United States and Argentina withdrawing its candidate at the last moment, not having sufficient support.

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These nations did agree to dismiss him in September 2021, after an external investigation, encouraged by some members of the IDB itself, demonstrated that he had maintained a romantic relationship with a subordinate whose salary was raised on several occasions.