Caricom is reportedly united in support of Trinidadian Gerard “Gerry” Johnson being elected Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) president on Sunday, November 20, 2022.

The development, according Johnson’s campaign manager Robert Le Hunte, is a first for the regional bloc which has acknowledged the critical importance of staying together and voting for one candidate as the only way small countries can get their own candidate into the top position in such an important regional institution.

“That, to me, in itself is a good indication,” Le Hunte told OBSERVER ONLINE.

While Caricom’s combined percentage of the bank’s voting capital is small, unlike the United States, the region has strength in numbers if it can stay united. In order to win the IDB presidency candidates needs a majority of the voting capital as well as the individual votes of 15 of the 28 member countries.

Caricom with eight votes — The Bahamas, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Jamaica, Guyana, Haiti, Suriname and Belize — represents a key country voting block. This is roughly the same as the figure for the voting strength of the US on the percentage of capital side.

The regional bloc has been engaged in fervent discussions with the countries of Central America which, like the Caribbean, are often overlooked by the large countries of the region, and who have also never had one of their own serve as the bank’s president.

Le Hunte noted that issues facing the Caribbean and Central America and, by extension, small countries, have been brought up front and centre. “Gerry was able to articulate a lot of our concerns. Some of the concerns centred around migration, poverty alleviation, climate and energy, particularly clean energy. Gerry won from that perspective,” Le Hunte said of the talks.

“Of all the candidates it was clear that our candidate represented the only one who had a full and a comprehensive understanding of the bank, and would be in a position to hit the ground running in dealing with the issues pertaining to the bank. Everyone acknowledged his depth of knowledge in the bank, and the in-depth manner with which he was able to articulate his views in coming up with practical solutions to apply to the issues at hand within the parameters and constraints of the bank. This came across very clearly,” said Le Hunte.

He said the Trinidad and Tobago Government was “very proud” of Johnson’s level of presentation, representation, and the manner in which he was able to articulate the issues facing the region.

Sources inside the IDB said that even if Johnson’s candidacy is not successful, Caricom countries stand a good chance of getting at least one of their nationals in a top executive position.

Johnson’s bid now all depends on whether the region can both keep the support of Central America, and get the backing of the United States.