| Hello, everyone. Today at WPR, we’re covering a questionable power grab in Honduras and the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda. |
| But first, here’s our take on today’s top story. |
| Argentina: Javier Milei, a far-right libertarian outsider will be the next president of Argentina after defeating Economy Minister Sergio Massa, a Peronist, in Sunday’s runoff election. Milei, a political firebrand who has embraced conspiracy theories and called for radical change, captured around 56% of the vote. (Reuters) |
| Our Take: Since bursting onto Argentina’s political scene, Milei has been called the Argentinian Donald Trump, much like how Jair Bolsonaro was called the Brazilian Trump. |
| To some extent, these comparisons—which Milei has welcomed—are understandable. Both Milei and Trump have similarly unhinged personas, and both achieved victory riding the wave of a cultural backlash. Argentina has achieved enormous progressive victories in recent years, from legalized abortion to LGBTQ+ rights. Milei’s election now represents a challenge to this progressive legacy in much the same way that Trump’s victory in 2016 represented a symbolic disavowal of the Obama era. |
| But it’s also important to understand why Milei’s election is a uniquely Argentinian outcome. The Argentine population has suffered enormously for much of the past decade, with the past four years defined by an economic meltdown under outgoing President Alberto Fernandez, one that was itself preceded by painful austerity cuts and economic crisis during former President Mauricio Macri’s term in office. All of this pain was exacerbated by the country’s especially traumatic COVID-19 lockdown. |
| As a result, Milei’s win represents not just a cultural backlash but a true cry of desperation by Argentina’s population. His wide margin of victory also makes this election a clear disavowal of the Peronist movement, with voters making clear that even a moderate Peronist like Sergio Massa—who does not come from the movement’s Kirchnerist wing—was not a viable option. |
| Milei also differs from Trump and Bolsonaro in that he will now find it very difficult to get any part of his agenda passed, let alone his most radical proposals. Milei’s party will hold just 35 seats in the country’s 257-seat lower house, meaning that even with the support of Macri’s conservative Juntos por el Cambio coalition—of which he likely won’t get every members’ support—he would still need the votes of independents for a majority. |
| Plus, Argentina’s progressives, including the pro-abortion rights Green Wave movement, are strong, mobilized and well-organized, providing a counterforce to Milei’s reactionary social agenda. And unlike in Brazil when Bolsonaro was elected, the country’s post-dictatorship memory project—which is currently celebrating the 40th anniversary of the restoration of democracy in Argentina—is a vibrant social and political force that will be vigilant to Milei’s historical revisionism regarding the dictatorship. As a result, organized opposition to Milei on the streets of Argentina will be strong. |
| What all this means is that Milei’s time in office will, in all likelihood, be defined by political paralysis, which will only leave Argentina worse off. |
| With Central America facing numerous crises, it could be easy to overlook a small legislative scuffle in Honduras. However, the institutional maneuverings there in recent weeks are a great example of the sorts of questionable power grabs that degrade democracy and undermine anti-corruption efforts around the region. |
| Columnist James Bosworth breaks it down: |
With Central America facing numerous crises, it could be easy to overlook a small legislative scuffle in Honduras. However, the institutional maneuverings there in recent weeks are a great example of the sorts of questionable power grabs that degrade democracy and undermine anti-corruption efforts around the region. Read more.
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| Following the Sustainable Development Goals Summit this past September, the United Nations published a guidance paper entitled “Six Transitions,” to identify critical “investment pathways” that will be key to achieving the SDGs by their target date of 2030. |
| But as Alexander Costy writes, if the 2030 Agenda’s targets are to be met, even partially, the U.N.’s development planners and policymakers must also rethink the political and ideological underpinnings of international development cooperation. |
Following the Sustainable Development Goals Summit this past September, the U.N. published a guidance paper to identify pathways to achieving the SDGs by their target date of 2030. But if those goals are to be met, even partially, the U.N. must also rethink the political underpinnings of international development cooperation. Read more.
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| Question of the Day: What was the name of the military operation launched last month by the opposition forces in Myanmar that has put the military junta firmly on the defensive and in danger of collapse? |
| Hours after the board of directors of OpenAI—the artificial intelligence start-up behind ChatGPT—said that its former CEO, Sam Altman, would not be returning to his job, Microsoft said it was hiring Altman to lead an advanced research lab. |
| The weekend’s surprise sequence of events served as a major shake-up to the AI industry, which is rapidly transforming not only the global economy, but also geopolitics. As Frida Ghitis wrote in March, AI is becoming a major battleground in 21st-century great power competition as the West tries to edge out China in the race to dominate the next-generation technology. |
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AI and the battle over access to high-end chips are the latest area of US-China competition. Read more.9 Mar 2023
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| Leaders from more than a dozen countries in Africa will gather in Berlin today and tomorrow for the G-20 Compact with Africa summit, which will also include the European Commission’s president and leaders from France, the Netherlands and Germany. |
| The G-20 has taken an increased interest in African countries in recent years as a potential source of investment and partnership, while the African Union was made a permanent member—the second African member, after South Africa—at the September G-20 Summit in New Delhi. |
| But as Chris Ògúnmọ́dẹdé wrote last year, it’s not clear that G-20 membership without wider reforms of the international economic order will necessarily bring African countries closer to the kind of economic prosperity their governments and people desire. |
At the 2022 G-20 summit in Bali, leaders from Africa pushed for greater inclusivity at the economic forum. Read more.18 Nov 2022
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| Australian PM Anthony Albanese criticized China for a “dangerous” encounter between Chinese and Australian warships. The incident comes just two weeks after Albanese visited China, ostensibly a sign of thawing relations after years of tensions between the two sides, as Michael Clarke wrote about last month. |
| U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is visiting Kyiv today, an attempt to reassure Ukrainian leaders that the Biden administration remains committed to Ukraine’s cause. As Paul Poast wrote last month, though, even if Biden is committed to Ukraine, it’s not clear that he can secure the funding from Congress needed for aid. |
| Read all of our latest coverage here. |
| Insurance for nomads. Global travel medical insurance that covers people from all over the world, while outside their home country—COVID-19 coverage included. You can buy it even if you are already abroad. Sign up now. |
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