‘Gesture of goodwill’ – Milei gives way to Lula on anti-hunger alliance

Argentina, following a last-minute decision of President Javier Milei, opted to join the Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty launched by his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva at the G20 Leaders Summit in Rio de Janeiro.

This is to be understood as a gesture of “goodwill” towards the Brazilian leader from Milei, who would probably find it difficult and too unpopular to reject this initiative. The coalition behind it comprises 148 founding members, including 82 countries, the African Union, the European Union and 24 international financial institutions.

One of the main principles of the  project is the need to accelerate the eradication of hunger worldwide. The goal is to meet the needs of 500 million people through income transfer programmes in low-wage countries by 2030.

For Lula, the world suffers from “a collective tragedy of hunger.”

“We live with 733 million inhabitants of the planet who are undernourished; and in a world that produces six billion tonnes of food elements. This is unacceptable,” he said.

For the head of the Brazilian government, “hunger is nothing more than a product of political decisions that perpetuate the exclusion of humanity.”

His partnership, already approved by the G20, is to be a “platform to connect countries, financial institutions and organisations that should implement public policies with the capacity to mobilise resources,” according to an official statement from Brazil, which led talks over the agreement.

According to Brazilian government sources, there are doubts as to whether the United States will remain part of the anti-hunger alliance. Although it formally joined under the Biden administration, it is presumed that US president-elect Donald Trump could withdraw from the group when he takes office on January 20.