Brazil, Mexico and Argentina: the only Latin American countries that are part of the , have more divergences than convergences, which prevents the defense of a single Latin agenda. Experts interviewed by Brazil Agency explain that even though they are part of the same region and converge in some aspects, the three countries have different economic policies or political positions, which makes them closer to other nations that make up the group than to each other.
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“There has never been a Latin American agenda in the G20”, argues the professor at the Institute of International Relations and Defense at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (IRID-UFRJ), coordinator of the South American Political Observatory, Marianna Albuquerque. “This comes from national issues that differentiate these countries. Given that the G20 is primarily an economic and financial bloc, there are three countries that have different perceptions about the level of commitment and depth that multilateral commitments in this area should have”.
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Mexico is part of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), along with the United States and Canada, for free trade in the region. Argentina, on the other hand, follows different internal macroeconomic plans from Brazil, according to Albuquerque. These factors, according to the professor, direct the decision-making of these countries on the international stage and contribute to the lack of a unified agenda.
In addition to the economic context, there is the political context. Under the command of Javier Milei, Argentina distances itself even further from Brazil. “In the Brazilian case, the government is committed to advancing and leading discussions on sustainable development, combating poverty and hunger and reducing inequalities. Argentina, under the leadership of Milei, defends ideas belonging to the right-wing camp of the political spectrum and, in this sense, is critical of the ideas defended by Brazil within the group, such as advances in discussions on climate change”, he says the professor of international relations at the State University of Rio de Janeiro (Uerj) Fernanda Nanci, who is coordinator of the Center for Studies on Foreign Policy Actors and Agendas.
Mexico, under the leadership of Claudia Sheinbaum, with a center-left position, has more affinity, especially on social issues, with Brazil. For the associate professor of international relations at the Institute of Strategic Studies at the Universidade Federal Fluminense (UFF) Márcio José Melo Malta, the G20 summit is an opportunity for Brazil to strengthen ties with the country. “We have the recently inaugurated president who recently confirmed her participation in the G20. We have this participation and we have greater convergence [dela] in political terms and ideological interests with Brazil. From this perspective, it is opportune to reinforce the Latin America link.” it says.
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Even though they do not have a completely unified agenda, Márcio Malta believes that mainly Mexico and Brazil have convergence and he highlights that strengthening Latin America is a priority of the president of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who always seeks this in international agendas.
“Brazil and Mexico have actually tried to work in harmony. Argentina has historically been a fundamental primary partnership for Brazil, but under Milei’s management this has not been the focus. President Lula, since his first two terms, has tried to bring a South-South perspective. His foreign policy is well known in this field. And within these frameworks, the Latin American region has always been a region of deep interest for developing partnerships, with a leadership role in mind”, he says.
Latin America non-G20
The Group of Twenty (G20) is the main forum for international economic cooperation. It is made up of Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States, in addition to European Union.
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Since 2008, countries have taken turns holding the presidency. This is the first time that Brazil presides over the G20 in its current format. The country defined the following priorities: social inclusion and combating hunger and poverty; promoting sustainable development in its economic, social and environmental dimensions and energy transitions; and reform of global governance institutions, including the United Nations and multilateral development banks.
The G20 agenda is extensive. Working group meetings, ministerial meetings and several bilateral meetings were held throughout the year. The meeting ends with the summit meeting that brings together the heads of state, on the 18th and 19th, in Rio de Janeiro.
Regarding the meetings already held, Marianna Albuquerque analyzes: “Argentina had a very erratic positioning during this year’s G20, mainly because it positioned itself in a very refractory and defensive way towards one of the pillars that Brazil suggested was the pillar of reform of the multilateral institutions”, he says and adds: “Argentina was like a natural blocker. Anything that was put up for negotiation on that topic, Argentina was already starting from a negative stance.”
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Mexico’s tendency, according to the professor, was to be closer to the United States and Canada. “In some agendas, Mexico appears jointly with Brazil, but in all other debates that deal with reform of the international financial architecture or subsidy policy, Mexico negotiates with the United States and Canada, on behalf of the USMCA. We only have an association between the position of Mexico and Brazil when it is an issue that also interests the United States and Canada”, says Albuquerque.
Fernanda Nanci highlights the convergences between Brazil and Mexico: “Mexico has a history of active participation in the G20, in discussions and in defending the fight against inequalities. Like Brazil, it defends – as a developing country – financing so that countries in the South can implement the 2030 Agenda and combat the effects of climate change, actions to reduce poverty and economic inequality and even defends other themes closely associated with the Mexican reality, such as regular and safe migration”, he says.
Argentina, like Mexico and Brazil, according to Nanci, has historically used the G20 space to seek advances in social agendas, but under Milei’s presidency the scenario changed. Even so, at the summit meeting, the country must maintain diplomacy with Brazil, which is an important economic partner: “Argentina’s presence at the meeting will be a way for President Milei to be more integrated into international discussions and participate in an important event , considering that he did not prioritize participating in important multilateral events previously, such as the Mercosur Summit this year. Furthermore, it is a way of improving relations with Brazil, given the constant criticism that the president makes towards the Brazilian president. However, we cannot lose sight of the fact that Brazil is the main destination for Argentine exports.”
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Brazil not G20
Regarding Brazil’s role as president of the group, for Marianna Albuquerque the balance “is very positive”. She highlights the engagement of civil society as one of the main Brazilian achievements and something unprecedented in the group’s meetings.
“It was a great achievement for Brazil to bring civil society into a multilateral system”, he says.
Albuquerque also highlights advances in relation to bioeconomy, a concept that involves innovations based on biological resources, which result in the development of more sustainable products, processes and services. One of the main discussions associated with the topic is the replacement of fossil raw materials with less polluting ones. “Bioeconomy until then was a topic that the G20 did not work on and which is very important for Brazil to control the narrative, because we are talking about genetic heritage and distribution of access and Brazil, both for the forests and the ocean, needs to protect yourself in relation to this.”
Another important advance, according to Albuquerque, was making the climate agenda an economic priority as well. “I think we finally managed to make the Ministry of Finance aware that climate is an economic issue. I think that in this G20 there was a turning point. It’s no use just for the Ministry of the Environment to be engaged in the climate agenda, we need an ecological transformation plan”, he highlights.
