An icy handshake, the air of a new South American bromance for Macron and a lack of size in a group photo: the first day of the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro was marked by unusual moments that reflect the current global tensions.
– Haute tension –
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, host of the summit, received the participants one by one at the entrance to the Museum of Modern Art in Rio, with a smile and warm hugs. With one exception: his Argentinian counterpart Javier Milei, with whom he has terrible relations.
When the ultra-liberal president of the neighboring country arrived, the face of the veteran of the Latin American left suddenly tensed. The two men exchanged a polar handshake and seemed embarrassed as they posed for the official photo.
Shortly after, Javier Milei shared on
– New bromance? –
But Milei found a smile again in contact with Emmanuel Macron, although he is known to be close to Lula. The two men had already met last weekend, during an official visit by the French president to Buenos Aires.
On several occasions, Milei and Macron appeared to be joking, making complicit gestures.
They even posed side by side at the official Global Alliance Against Hunger group photo, with Sugar Loaf in the background.
“Macron and Milei, the improbable bromance of the G20 in Rio,” wrote one user on X, an allusion to the political differences between the two leaders.
The term “bromance” was used extensively on social networks in March, to comment on photos of Emmanuel Macron smiling hand in hand with Lula during a visit by the French president to the Brazilian Amazon, inspiring hilarious memes.
– Where has Biden gone? –
While Milei and Macron joked before the group photo, a G20 head of state was conspicuously absent. And not just any: Joe Biden, president of the world's leading power.
The one who is living his last weeks in office at the head of the United States did not appear in the photo, just like Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the head of the Italian government Giorgia Meloni.
“Due to logistical issues, the photo was taken before all the leaders arrived. This is why some of them were not present,” said an American diplomatic source.
Due to political tensions, the last family photo showing representatives of all G20 members dates from 2021.
Despite the absence of Russian President Vladimir Putin in Rio, his Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, was in the group photo of the Alliance Against Hunger.
