with appointment of new IMF Chief
United Peoples (UP) party Member of Parliament (MP) Jules James says that many Latin American countries will be disappointed after Christine Lagarde was appointed to the top position of Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) this week. Lagarde will take up her new five-year position on July 5.
James said that the main topic of discussion in May when he attended a Parlatino Economic Affairs Committee for Social Debt and Development meeting in Cuba, was who should be appointed to fill the vacancy of the IMF which has 187 member countries. The organization was established in 1944.
"The preference in the meeting was for somebody from Latin America or the developing world to head the international financial organization. The top position became available when Dominique Strauss-Kahn resigned due to legal issues in New York.
"The IMF’s 24-member Executive Board started a month long selection process that started on May 20. Mexico’s Central Bank Governor Agustin Carstens was the other candidate for the Managing Director position.
"When it comes to these international organizations, a lot of pressure is placed on countries to support a specific candidate, so you have a lot of international politics playing a role. In our meeting we discussed this specific issue and that changes were needed when it comes to the appointment of persons in such international bodies.
"Everybody was in agreement that these organizations should not just be an expression of developed countries, but should represent and reflect the other global economic powers in the world. Emphasis was also placed on the IMF playing a more supportive roll to developing countries," MP Jules James said on Thursday in response to the appointment of the new IMF Managing Director.
MP James added that there was a broad consensus among the Parlatino delegates to better position the Latin American community of nations when it comes to vacancies for the Managing Director position and the IMF Executive Board.
The Parlatino committee passed a motion to that effect: to request the bodies concerned, to consider the needs of other countries to preside over the economic entity, IMF, the countries grouped in the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) as well as Chile and Mexico.
The IMF is an organization that is working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world.
The Parlatino committee meeting took place at Hotel Barcelo, Havana Cuba. Over 40 countries were represented which included but not limited to Aruba, Curacao, Venezuela, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Mexico, Uruguay, Paraguay, Panama, Honduras, and the Dominican Republic.