The Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS) Luis Almagro said on Friday that he was the subject of an internal investigation for an alleged violation of the code of ethics of this institution in matters of private relations in the professional environment. “We have received an anonymous tip, regarding a possible violation of the OAS Code of Workplace Ethics involving me“, indicated Mr. Almagro during a press conference in Lima where the 52nd General Assembly of the organization closed.
The head of the pan-American institution added that this denunciation had been transferred to the services of the Inspector General of the OAS “in order to carry out the investigations which correspond“. “I have never been the superior of any person with whom I had a relationship, I have never promoted them, nor increased their salary, in accordance with what is stipulated in the code of work ethics“, assured the former Uruguayan Minister of Foreign Affairs.
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Mr. Almagro said he was “very calm”, and promised that he would collaborate with the investigators, without interfering in their work. The OAS chief, a 59-year-old lawyer and diplomat, did not identify the person concerned, adding that he was “very reserved” about his private life. However, sources familiar with the matter told AFP that it was Mexican political scientist Marian Vidaurri, who works for the OAS.
In their book “Almagro does not ask for forgiveness” published in 2020, the Uruguayan authors Gonzalo Ferreira and Martín Natalevich tell that she worked for the general secretary. At the end of September, the board of governors of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) dismissed its president Mauricio Claver-Carone after an investigation concluded that he had had an intimate relationship with a subordinate, in violation of the internal rules of the financial institution. .
His dismissal had been recommended by the board of directors after the delivery of a report by the law firm Davis Polk, which concluded that Mr. Claver-Carone had had an intimate relationship with a bank employee, to whom he allegedly also given preferential treatment.