G20: Argentina at centre of the world

One of President Macri’s success stories this year has definitely been his government’s performance and exposure on the international stage. The culmination of these events was the G20 Leaders Summit held in Buenos Aires in November, which counted with the presence of the world’s most important leaders. A year in the works, as Argentina held the G20 Presidency and hosted countless meetings, the summit ended up being a political victory for Macri, who held bilateral meetings with the world’s most powerful leaders, from US President Donald Trump to Russian Premier Vladimir Putin and China’s Xi Jinping, securing agreements and trade deals in quite a few of them. It was quite a turnaround, given that less than a week before the world’s leaders were scheduled to arrive, the government’s capacity to keep the streets safe had been seriously called into question after the final of the Copa Libertadores between River Plate and Boca Juniors had to be suspended due to hooligan violence. Security Minister Patricia Bullrich was in the hot seat, but the flawless execution of the security arrangements – which included overseeing a large and eventually peaceful anti-G20 protest down 9 de Julio Avenue – marked a huge victory for the Macri administration. A long awaited tête-à-tête between Trump and Xi to discuss an escalating global trade war, was the second. Macri broke into tears as his emotions overcome him at the end of a gala held at the Teatro Colón, as the world’s leaders applauded, and the electorate approved of the president’s performance.