Mileis going it alone at the G-20: confrontation and surprise turnaround

The Argentine president threatened not to sign the joint final declaration. In the end he did it – amid loud protests.

Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Argentina’s President Javier Milei met for the first time in Rio de Janeiro. The enthusiasm was limited.

Brazilian Presidency / Handout

The welcome was grim: When Argentine President Javier Milei was one of the last state guests to greet the host President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva at the beginning of the G-20 summit, neither of the two tried to hide how little he thought of his counterpart.

The downturned corners of the two presidents’ mouths in the official photo immediately went viral on social media – the difference to the other state guests, who all posed more or less smiling with Lula, was striking.

Milei has now been in office for almost a year, but the libertarian president has not yet personally met his counterpart Lula in neighboring Brazil. Brazil is Argentina’s most important political and economic partner in Latin America. The fact that the Argentinian had insulted Lula as a “communist” and “thief” during the election campaign and did not want to back down from this as head of state in the crisis-ridden country was not conducive to good cooperation.

Milei is radicalizing his foreign policy

In Rio, Milei went directly on a course of confrontation: the Argentine president threatened to cancel the G-20 summit, the most important meeting in Lula’s third term in office. Milei did not want to sign the summit’s final declaration, which had been prepared for a year. He does not support the Alliance Against Hunger, the promotion of women, gender equality, energy transition measures or the tax on the super-rich.

It was heard from diplomatic circles that last week the Argentine delegation suddenly no longer wanted to support the compromises that had been negotiated for months.

This is symptomatic of the new Argentine foreign policy that Milei has radicalized in recent weeks. Just a few weeks ago, Milei fired his Foreign Minister Diana Mondino. She had voted in the UN General Assembly to lift the US trade embargo against Cuba – just as her predecessors had already done dozens of times. Milei, who wants to take a tough line against the “Cuban dictatorship,” punished Mondino for her traditional voting behavior. Milei then appointed Alec Oxenford, an Argentine start-up entrepreneur with no diplomatic experience, as Argentina’s US ambassador.

Last week, Milei withdrew the Argentine delegation from the climate summit in Baku without prior notice. In Buenos Aires he said he doubted that there was man-made climate change. This is a lie that serves to restrict people’s freedom. He had previously condemned the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development as a “socialist dictate” in which Argentina would not participate under his presidency.

Does Milei want to act as Trump’s self-appointed deputy?

Over the weekend, Milei traveled to Florida to attend a gala honoring Donald Trump. Milei was the first foreign leader to meet Trump after his election victory. In a speech, Milei praised his role model and spoke of “the greatest political comeback in history”.

Brazilian diplomacy was correspondingly concerned that Milei would now act as a kind of self-appointed deputy for Trump in Rio, anticipating Trump’s isolationist course. In Rio it was said throughout Monday that it would depend on Milei personally whether he would make the summit collapse with his solo effort.

The final declarations of summits are considered to have failed if they are not unanimously approved. Just as Trump in his first term in office always added a special addition to summit declarations, called 19+1 in summit jargon.

But the surprising turnaround came late in the afternoon. Milei would sign the final declaration – but he wanted to explain in a speech on which points he disagreed. The focus was on the Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty initiated by Brazil. It is already supported by more than 80 countries and is expected to bring improvements to 500 million poor people around the world within six years.

How are the two supposed to agree on Mercosur?

Milei, on the other hand, explained that government interventions are inefficient and that the free market is the best solution in the fight against hunger and poverty. “Every time an attempt has been made to combat hunger and poverty through a greater state presence in the economy, the result has been the exodus of population and capital and the deaths of millions of people,” he criticized this approach.

The extent of the ideological gap between Milei and Lula became clear when the Brazilian defended his project. Lula, who grew up in poor conditions as a child, said it was a mistake not to have corrected the excesses of privatization and the development of a minimal state. He criticized the fact that when the G-20 was founded in the middle of the 2008 financial crisis, it decided to save the private sector instead of strengthening the state. Neoliberal globalization has failed, said Lula.

In view of the difficult search for compromise at the G-20 summit, the question remains as to how the two most important heads of state of the South American economic community Mercosur will come together to reach an agreement with the EU and Efta this year.

question: What potential challenges could arise from Argentina’s foreign policy under⁤ Milei ⁤at the G-20 summit?

Question: How important​ is the ⁤G-20 summit for Argentina‌ and Brazil?

discussion: The G-20⁢ summit is an important⁣ meeting for ⁣both Argentina⁢ and Brazil as it brings together leaders from the world’s major economies to discuss global economic‌ issues and policies. This ⁣year’s summit in Rio de Janeiro, hosted by Brazil, is particularly significant for Argentina’s new president Javier Milei, as it provides an opportunity for him to establish his position on the international ⁢stage and forge relationships with other world ⁢leaders. However, the tense relationship ‌between Milei‌ and host president Lula da Silva, coupled with Milei’s recent foreign policy decisions, has cast doubt on the effectiveness of the summit and their ability to reach ⁣meaningful agreements.

question: What⁣ is Milei’s vision for Argentina’s ‌foreign policy?

discussion: Milei’s foreign policy has been characterized by a shift towards confrontation and a rejection of traditional diplomatic norms. He has criticized Argentina’s historic support for Cuba and recently pulled out of the UN⁤ climate ​conference, claiming that‍ the issue is not manmade. His decision to fire⁤ the foreign minister and appoint a businessman without diplomatic‌ experience as ambassador to the US ‍reflects his desire for a more assertive approach. However,⁢ his attendance at the Trump-inspired gala‍ and threat to boycott the G-20 summit suggest a desire for ​isolation from​ multilateral organizations. Milei’s recent actions indicate that he wants to pursue a more unilateral and‍ nationalistic path.

question: How could Milei’s actions⁢ impact Mercosur negotiations with the⁢ EU and Efta?

discussion: Milei’s radicalization of Argentina’s foreign policy and his critical stance⁢ on international ​cooperation raise concerns about ‌his ability to reach compromise with fellow Mercosur members, particularly Brazil, in negotiations with the EU and Efta. The ongoing dispute over trade between these two economic blocs has already led to trade sanctions and tension between member countries. With a new president in Argentina who espouses a more isolationist view, it is unclear how successful these negotiations will be⁢ or if ⁤they will stall altogether. This could have serious economic consequences for all parties involved.

question: How do you think the relationship between Lula da Silva and