MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Presidents of Bolivia and Paraguay arrive in Rio for G20 guest appearances

It will be the first G20 for Paraguay's and Bolivia's Arce

Presidents Luis Arce Catacora of Bolivia and Santiago Peña of Paraguay landed Sunday night in Rio de Janeiro to participate as a guest of the G20 Summit, to be held between Nov. 18 and 19 in the former Brazilian capital.

 “We have just landed in Brazil, where we will fulfill an important work agenda within the framework of the G20 Summit,” Arce wrote on social media. He is scheduled to hold one-on-one meetings with Presidents Xi Jinping (China) and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (Brazil). “Our president will have a bilateral meeting with the president of China, with whom we will also continue working on a bilateral agenda that we have opened to strengthen what is to be the integration between brotherly countries such as Bolivia and China,” Minister of the Presidency María Nela Prada said.

Bolivia has recently become a full Sothern Common Market (Mercosur) member as well as an associate BRICS member. In addition to leaders of the G20 full members, representatives from 55 other countries and international organizations are expected to attend.

The G20 is made up of 19 countries (Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States and Mexico) plus the African Union and the European Union.

This year's Summit is expected to focus on social inclusion, the reform of international institutions, and energy transitions, among other issues. In addition, the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty will be launched. The Brazilian initiative seeks to accelerate efforts in these regards leading up to the 2030 deadline.

According to Paraguayan media, Peña intends to trebuchet his international image through his own “Zero Hunger” Program after adhering to the Brazilian proposal. However, the ZHP has yet to achieve the goals it had sighted and therefore its achievements are only partial, it was explained.