The G20 brought together again this Monday the presidents of the dominant countries and some of the largest economies in the world. Lula da Silva (who holds the presidency of the meeting) urged all States to join the Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty, which says its objective is to mobilize resources and knowledge to eradicate hunger and poverty worldwide. Milei, after raising doubts, agreed but made her differences explicit. Both leaders express two different policies, but neither of them has been successful in improving the living conditions of the vast majority.
A statement from the President’s Office summarized Milei’s statements: “Every time an attempt was made to combat hunger and poverty with measures that increased the presence of the State in the economy, the result was the exodus of both population and capital, in addition to millions of deaths of human lives.” Such a general phrase becomes incontrovertible, the reality is that with more or less State intervention in recent decades, capitalism has increased inequality and was never close to ending poverty.
The same project of the Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty admits that: “733 million people suffered from hunger in 2023, that is, 9% of the world’s population, according to the latest report presented in July by the United Nations. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and other UN agencies.” The same report, that of the FAO, adds that there are around 152 million more than in 2019, so the situation has seriously worsened. Furthermore, it can be read that approximately 2.33 billion people around the world suffered from moderate or severe food insecurity.
Inequality can also be seen in the FAO report: 6.3% of the population in high-income countries cannot afford a healthy diet, compared to 71.5% in the poorest countries. And it is not just by country, although Milei denies the existence of the gender gap, food insecurity is greater among women than among men.
One of the central causes can be found in the latest Oxfam report, which reveals that the richest households in the world, approximately 3,000, concentrate 13% of the world’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This data contrasts with the levels of 1987, when that proportion was barely 3%. The market that the President defends is based on the concentration of profits in the hands of a few businessmen and capitalist states do not reverse this trend.
But as written in the statement from the presidential office, the libertarian went further: “Javier Milei has a clear position: if we want to fight hunger and eradicate poverty, the solution is to move to the middle State” and adds that “urges all world leaders to follow this path, which in Argentina is already bearing fruit.”
According to Indec, 52.9% of the population is poor, an increase of almost 13 percentage points in one year or 11 percentage points since the La Libertad Avanza government took office. In turn, the level of indigence reached 18.1%, growing 6.2 percentage points since Milei took office. This implies that Milei created 5.3 million new poor people to raise the total to 24.8 million. It also created 3 million new homeless people to bring the total number to 8.5 million. These are the true “fruits” of the Government’s policies.
Major powers, such as the United States, strive to hold G20 meetings to try to show unity and cooperation, but Milei’s speeches are just one of the visible expressions of the clashes at the international level. Vladimir Putin did not attend the summit (he was replaced by his chancellor) due to the war in Ukraine, which in addition to causing great suffering to millions of people, increases the division since NATO states support Ukraine and China remains “neutral.” ” favoring Russia in fact. The ongoing genocide of the State of Israel on the Palestinian people further aggravates the contradictions. Trump’s inauguration will most likely aggravate this scenario.
In the face of the horrors caused by capitalism, policies like Milei’s deepen the placing of the global production of goods and services based on the profits of a few and the commodification of elementary rights such as health, housing, no longer go hungry Only the fight for international cooperation of the working classes and popular sectors can end genocides and wars, change this system of exploitation and oppression at its roots, and put all technological and scientific resources at the service of satisfying basic needs. of the majority of society.
Source: www.laizquierdadiario.com
