The “egregious” Mauricio Claver-Carone, who served as former President Donald Trump's special envoy for Latin America, resigned and will leave his post to rejoin the private sector as co-director of the Lara Fund, a private equity firm based in Miami.
Although officially it is argued that the resignation responds to the legal limit, which prevents special government officials from holding office for more than 130 days without Senate confirmation, several sources point to deeper causes.
Among the possible reasons for his decision are differences with the current Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, together with a growing isolation within the Trumpist diplomatic circle.
The management of the Cuban “flamethrower”, as he is also known among his peers for his explosive genius, was marked by clashes with key figures in governments such as Argentina's, so his resignation may generate relief more than anything else.
He was a fierce opponent of Latin American countries' financial agreements with China, such as Argentina's currency swap, and pushed for the cancellation of these ties as a condition for receiving support from the United States or the IMF.
Media reports indicate that the Trump administration's economic team reacted with relief and enthusiasm to the official's resignation.
It is useful to remember that Claver-Carone had a “prominent” role, especially for the damage his management caused to the peoples of Cuba and Venezuela, in the first Trump administration (2017-2021), as senior director for Western Hemisphere Affairs in the National Security Council.
On the other hand, in 2020, he was appointed president of the Inter-American Development Bank (BID), being the first American to hold that position, thanks to Trump's impulse.
However, his tenure at the IDB ended abruptly in 2022, following an internal investigation that revealed a sentimental relationship with a subordinate, whom he benefited with undue salaries and other fruits of his shenanigans, which led to his dismissal for violations of the institution's Code of Ethics.
Claver-Carone's resignation reconfigures Trump's Latin American team, in a context of global geopolitical tensions and the growing prominence of countries such as Brazil, Mexico and Colombia in the hemisphere.
Gone is the guy with the surgical proposals against Cuba. Now the focus is on who will be appointed to take his place, who will be the new special envoy who will have to deal with Marco Rubio, grown in his position of “rising star” in the White House.
Sources: BBC News Mundo, Página 12, France 24.
