President Fernández arrives in Mexico for G20 summit
President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner arrived in Mexico yesterday for the Group of 20 (G20) Summit. The Summit, which takes place in Los Cabos, Baja California Sur, Mexico, aims to secure a long-term strategy for European growth and financial security and runs from the 18th to the 19th June. President Fernández is expected to raise issues about fiscal adjustment policies favoured by the IMF and promote the importance of economic growth and employment.
President Fernández and her Brazilian counterpart, Dilma Rousseff met earlier today to discuss their visions for global economic growth. Together they are expected to present a common stance on the importance of new strategies, as well as a unified position against the protectionism exhibited by developed countries which blocks goods from emerging economies such as Argentina.
President Fernández has already raised doubts over the efficacy of IMF policies and will present arguments for supporting growth over austerity measures. She has also scheduled meetings with Vladmir Putin and Francois Hollande before the close of the Summit tomorrow. The Argentine leader recently congratulated Hollande on his presidential win and expressed desires for the two countries to work together to promote economic policies that run against fiscal austerity measures.
Today President Fernández takes part in a plenary session of the summit titled “The Global Economy: A Framework for Robust, Sustained and Balanced Growth”. The session is set to be a heated debate between countries advocating for a bailout of European banks and those favouring policies supporting social investment and employment. The Argentine leader is expected to face questions about the Falklands Islands and the nationalisation of YPF in particular and could face opposition from groups who criticise the takeover of the formerly foreign-owned oil company.
Tonight President Fernández will attend a leadership dinner before a second plenary tomorrow which will focus on economic inclusion. Tomorrow, the summit comes to a close tomorrow and the President will return to Argentina.
