Carlos Alvarado Quesada, former president of Costa Rica and current professor of practice at The Fletcher School of Tufts University: “Fit for purpose? That question is often repeated nowadays when it comes to discussing the Bretton Woods institutions and how they are addressing the world’s most demanding challenges, especially in the Global South. In this context enters Rodrigo Valdés, an economist with solid academic and professional credentials that will be put to test in the IMF’s Western Hemisphere Department. He will be confronted with the need to provide credible answers to the needs of the Latin American and Caribbean countries. The region suffers from an accelerated biodiversity loss, climate change and adaptation needs, as well as the challenges posed by inequality, political instability, migration, democratic weakening and the imminent energy transition. These challenges are further compounded by already reduced fiscal margins that were exacerbated by…”