LatAm in Focus: Lula, Sheinbaum, and Milei on a Shifting Global Stage
LatAm in Focus: Lula, Sheinbaum, and Milei on a Shifting Global Stage
Three experts from the Latin American members of the G20 discuss how leaders are navigating Trump’s return and U.S.-China competition in the region.
This has been a season of global summits. In October and November, the BRICS summit took place in Russia, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) convened in Peru, and the G20 met in Brazil. In the middle of it all, Donald Trump was reelected president of the United States. Now, world leaders are reassessing their strategies and outlooks on the future of international relations. What does this shift mean for Latin America?
In this episode of Latin America in Focus, we convened a panel of experts from the region's three G20 members. Cecilia Tornaghi of Brazil, Francisco Resnicoff of Argentina, and Brenda Estefan of Mexico discuss how each administration is shaping its foreign policy, the implications of Trump’s return for global diplomacy, and their projections for the future of U.S.-China competition in the region.
The G20 is a significant global platform for President Lula da Silva. He has been leveraging it to position Brazil as a key global player, while also showcasing his leadership domestically,” says Cecilia Tornaghi, a Brazilian-American journalist and senior advisor at AS/COA. President Lula hosted the G20 in Rio de Janeiro and welcomed Javier Milei, a leader who shares geographic proximity but vastly differing political views.
In conversation with AS/COA Online’s Chase Harrison, Francisco Resnicoff, senior specialist in International Relations and MAD foundation and a senior fellow at Austral University offered insights into Milei’s motivations for attending the summit. “For Milei, this is huge. He views himself as the Trump ally in Latin America, someone who can help pursue U.S. interests in the region,” he explained.
What about Mexico? Newly elected President Claudia Sheinbaum skipped APEC in Peru but attended her first international summit, the G20 in Rio, a more politically welcoming environment for her. This marks a departure from former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s disengagement in international forums. “It's good news to attend the summits. But will she truly break from AMLO's positions? That remains to be seen. From what we've observed this month, it doesn't appear so,” says Brenda Estefan, a columnist for Reforma and professor at IPADE Business School. “We are not in an era of changes. We are in a change of eras," she noted.
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