Brazil approved, this Monday (18), with “consensus” among all members, the final document proposed by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) at the G20 summit. Despite releasing a list of reservations, the president of Argentina, Javier Milei, adhered to the final declaration. Due to the announced disagreements, there was doubt about his agreement. According to Milei, the Argentine government agreed to adhere to the text, but the country “partially dissociated itself from all content linked to the 2030 Agenda”.
Furthermore, the Argentine government made clear its positions on freedom of expression and on state intervention being the way to combat hunger. Members of the Lula government admit that it was precisely the impasses put on the table by Argentina that caused the biggest clashes at the summit. The Brazilian president met Milei for the first time at the opening of the summit and the meeting was marked only by a formal handshake between the two.
“Without obstructing the declaration of other leaders, President Javier Milei made it clear in his participation in the G20 that he does not support several points of the declaration, including: the promotion of limiting freedom of expression on social networks, the scheme for imposing and making the sovereignty of global governance institutions, unequal treatment before the law and, especially, the notion that greater state intervention is the way to combat hunger”, said the Argentine government.
Given this, there was a fear on the part of the Palácio do Planalto that Milei, for example, would not sign the final joint declaration, which would represent a defeat for Lula’s diplomacy. Since the beginning of negotiations between the countries, Argentine diplomats have also been questioning the inclusion of mentions in the final document of the G20 summit on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
“International organizations and forums like the G-20 were created in the spirit that all nations involved could come together to cooperate voluntarily, as equals and autonomously, to, among other things, safeguard people’s basic rights,” he said. Milei’s office.
Agenda 2030
Milei opposes the UN Agenda 2030, which has 17 goals adopted in 2015, which, according to the UN, would aim to promote sustainability, eradicate poverty and protect the planet by the end of the decade. In September, during his speech at the UN General Assembly, the Argentine president had already made his statement focused on criticism of what he called the ideological agenda.
At the time, he said that the 2030 Agenda was a “supranational program of a socialist nature, which aims to solve the problems of modernity with solutions that attack the sovereignty of States and violate the right to life”.
Matter of People’s Gazettepublished in 2022, showed that the list brings together generic objectives, such as “eradicating poverty and hunger”, “quality education and health”, “economic growth”, and other quite controversial ones, which generally hide “traps”, such as “ gender equality” and “climate action”. Even among the goals that should theoretically be unanimous, several are subject to multiple interpretations and different courses of action to achieve them.
The report also highlighted that the document explicitly mentions the application of women’s access to sexual education and methods of protection against STDs and unwanted pregnancies, within the scope of what is called sexual health and reproductive rights. There is no explicit mention of abortion, but it is known that the practice is considered one of these “rights” by the World Health Organization (WHO), one of the branches of the UN.
Brazil maintained section on taxation of the “super-rich”
Another obstacle that had been put on the table by Argentina concerned the point in the final text that deals with the proposal to tax the super-rich. Members of Argentine diplomacy had been opposing the inclusion of this point in the text since the beginning of the event.
For Planalto’s allies, the Argentine president’s resistance is seen as a signal to the elected US president, Donald Trump. The Republican has already announced that he intends to extend the income tax cuts – including for the super-rich – and taxes on companies that he implemented in 2017.
In July, during a meeting of Finance Ministers and G20 equivalents, Brazil negotiated a text that reaffirmed the countries’ commitment to promoting “global dialogue on fair and progressive taxation”, including “individuals with ultra-high net worth”.
At the same time, Brazilian diplomats claimed that the proposal to tax the super-rich had “wide support” among other countries. Since then, the Brazilian government had been acting to not give in to Argentina’s demands and chose to maintain the mention of “taxation of the super-rich” in the final document.
The group has the 19 largest economies in the world, plus the European Union and the African Union and continues to meet in Rio de Janeiro until this Tuesday (19).
G20 Final Declaration
The G20 final declaration document is 22 pages long and divided into 85 topics. The heads of state committed to “harnessing the potential of digital and emerging technologies to reduce inequalities”. However, they highlighted that the advancement of new technologies “have dramatically impacted the speed, scale and reach of unintentional and intentional misinformation, hate speech and other forms of online harm”.
In addition to the topic of taxation of the super-rich, the text also addresses issues such as ongoing wars, big techs and regulation of AI, reform of Global Governance institutions, social inclusion, renewable energy, among other topics.
The group made an appeal for big techs respect regulatory frameworks. “We emphasize the need for transparency and accountability of digital platforms, in line with relevant policies and applicable legal frameworks, and will work with platforms and relevant stakeholders in this regard,” the statement reads.
The G20 also declared support for a “comprehensive ceasefire” in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon and expressed “deep concern about the catastrophic humanitarian situation” in the region with the escalation of Israel’s offensive. The heads of state emphasized the “urgent need to expand the flow of humanitarian assistance and strengthen the protection of civilians and demand the removal of all barriers to the provision of humanitarian assistance at scale.”
The text also highlights the possibility of reform in global governance to increase the representation of emerging countries in international bodies such as the UN Security Council.
Check out the full G20 final declaration.
Milei joined the alliance against hunger at the last minute
In addition to discussions between the two countries on the final document of the G20 summit, diplomats had already clashed over Argentina’s participation in the Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty. This was seen by Palácio do Planalto as the main initiative of the Lula government at the forum.
Milei’s confirmation only happened after the Brazilian president had already announced that 81 countries had adhered to the document. Joining the alliance means that countries have announced commitments to reduce hunger and poverty — most at the national level.
With Argentina’s accession, the number of members of the pact increased to 82. Other countries also promised to provide resources to assist in the implementation of public policies in developing regions.
“It is up to those around this table to have the urgent task of putting an end to this scourge that shames humanity. Therefore, we have placed as a central objective of the Brazilian presidency of the G-20 the launch of a Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty”, said Lula in his speech.
On the other hand, Milei said she had a clear position on the issue. “If we want to fight hunger and eradicate poverty, the solution is to run to the middle state,” said the Argentine president.
“We must deregulate economic activity to free the market and facilitate trade, and that the voluntary exchange of goods and services is what brings prosperity. Free market capitalism has already lifted 90% of the world’s population out of extreme poverty and doubled the hope of life”, added Milei.
