Mauricio Carone leaves Trump's administration and generates relief in Casa Rosada

In the Government of Javier Milei they received with satisfaction news that arrived on Friday from Washington: Mauricio Claver Carone, the U.S. official who was not liked by several members of the current Argentine government, will leave his position in the Donald Trump administration this month to return to the private sector.

The announcement caused relief, especially due to the history of confrontations that Claver Carone had with figures not only from previous governments but also from the current administration, such as the chief of Cabinet Guillermo Francos and the Minister of Economy, Luis Caputo.

Both were targets of public criticism by the former official, who played a leading role in the policy toward Latin America during Donald Trump's first term and who, more recently, was pressing hard for Argentina to distance itself from China and deactivate the currency swap with that country.

Conflicts with Argentina

A lawyer of Cuban-Spanish origin, Claver Carone was a strong advocate of a hardline stance against Latin American governments that did not align with Washington. He was a key player in granting the largest loan in IMF history to Argentina during the government of Mauricio Macri, and he did not hide his displeasure with how it was managed.

"The largest program in the history of the International Monetary Fund we pushed for Argentina. That it was mismanaged by Argentina and cost them an election is another matter," he said in 2020.

[IMAGE]{1009996}[/IMAGE]

His departure from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), where he was president after strong pressure from the first Trump administration, occurred amid an ethical scandal over an inappropriate romantic relationship with his chief of staff, Jessica Bedoya, whom he brought into the IDB after having worked with him at the White House National Security Council.

The government of Alberto Fernández and, especially, Guillermo Francos, then the Argentine representative to the IDB, were accused by Claver Carone of being behind the allegations that led to his dismissal.

During Trump's second term, Claver Carone had returned to the State Department, although without achieving the same level of influence. His figure was overshadowed by the growing relevance of the new Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, with whom he doesn't maintain a good relationship.

[IMAGE]{858451}[/IMAGE]

Rubio, of Cuban-American origin like Carone, was recently appointed national security advisor replacing Mike Waltz, and keeps a fluid and very positive relationship with the Government of Javier Milei.

Meanwhile, the recent support from the U.S. Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, and the new tranche of financial assistance from the IMF indicate a change of tone in the bilateral relationship. Unlike Claver Carone, Bessent repeated the same messages regarding the need to moderate ties with China, but he did so with diplomacy and supporting the Argentine government.