EXCLUSIVE-U.S. threatens to derail IADB meeting if China bars Venezuela's Guaido representative

The United States on Thursday threatened to pull out from the annual meeting of the Inter-American Development Bank in China next week if Beijing refuses to allow a representative of Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido to attend.

The IADB, which is Latin America's largest development lender, voted last week to replace Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's board representative with Harvard economist Ricardo Hausmann, who is backed by Guaido. Several sources familiar with the situation told Reuters that China - one of the Venezuelan government's few remaining international allies - had proposed not inviting representatives from either the Maduro or Guaido camps to "de-politicize" the meeting.

(Reporting by Lesley Wroughton and Roberta Rampton Editing by Daniel Flynn and Diane Craft)