North Miami-Dade News

Florida Republican Rep. Mario Díaz-Balart recently partnered with several Congressional colleagues to introduce the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Transparency Act, which would require the Treasury Department to inform Congress of any coercive tactics by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) at the IDB and require the U.S. to use its influence to facilitate transparency at the IDB and reduce Chinese influence in Latin America.

"I co-sponsored this important, bipartisan bill because it will bring much-needed transparency to the IDB, including a full assessment of the PRC’s undue influence and malign activities within that multilateral institution," Diaz-Balart said in a release by the Select Committee on the CCP. "The PRC has already spread its damaging influence throughout our hemisphere, and this bill is important to ensuring that the activities of the PRC are thoroughly uncovered, monitored, and diminished. I commend Rep. (Mike) Gallagher for his leadership in tackling the pervasive threat posed by the PRC, and look forward to continuing to work with him on this critical national security issue."

Headquartered in Washington, the (IDB) is the largest and foremost international financial institution serving Latin America and the Caribbean. In 2022, it allocated $23 billion toward financing sustainable economic and institutional development in the region, according to the release.

Despite the CCP's ownership of only 0.1% of shares in the bank, "the CCP is consistently ranked among the top countries awarded contracts by the IDB," the release explained. "The CCP has even used its economic leverage to pressure nations to bend to the Party’s will, notably pressuring IDB member Paraguay to abandon Taiwan in exchange for vaccines."

The bill seeks to end CCP coercion and mandating Treasury reporting on several aspects, such as "whether the CCP exploits the IDB to extend its influence," the release said, making CCP activity subject to U.S. oversight, including export controls in IDB projects and "the extent of Chinese company influence and participation in IDB contracts" and more, according to the release.

“The Chinese Communist Party is increasingly utilizing the Inter-American Development Bank to expand its reach, influence, and economic leverage over Latin American countries,” California Rep. Jimmy Panetta, a co-sponsor of the bill, said in the release. “I’m proud to introduce this bipartisan legislation that would ensure the United States understands the full scope and scale of the CCP’s influence on the IDB and develop an action plan to counter potential malign actions.”

said New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, another co-sponsor, said the bill will protect U.S. funds.

"The critical bipartisan legislation we are introducing today will ensure U.S. taxpayer dollars are no longer funneled to CCP-controlled companies that undermine America’s interests and export the CCP’s oppressive surveillance capabilities in our own hemisphere," she said in the release.