Horrors, "equality" WTF!
Rubio Snubs G-20 Meeting Citing South Africa’s Focus on Equality
(Bloomberg) -- US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he won’t attend a Group of 20 summit in Johannesburg later this month, citing among his reasons South Africa’s efforts to address inequality.
“South Africa is doing very bad things. Expropriating private property. Using G20 to promote ‘solidarity, equality, & sustainability.’ In other words: DEI and climate change,” Rubio said in a post on X Wednesday.
It’s unusual for a secretary of state to skip a G-20 summit, and Rubio’s absence carries the risk of the US being left out of deliberations by some of the world’s wealthiest countries. His comments echo President Donald Trump’s criticism of South Africa’s land policy earlier this week and a threat to cut off future funding to the country.
South Africa’s foreign ministry reiterated that no land has been confiscated and that the expropriation legislation announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa last month is similar to eminent domain laws elsewhere in the world. It also also stressed the government’s commitment to addressing global inequality.
“Our G20 presidency is not confined to just climate change but also equitable treatment for nations of the Global South, ensuring an equal global system for all,” International Relations and Cooperation Minister Ronald Lamola said in a statement. “These are important principles that we remain open to pursue and engage the United States on.”
Rubio’s remarks add further strain to relations between the US and South Africa, which counts America as its second-biggest trading partner, after China. Some US lawmakers have called for a review of the two nations’ trade ties over South Africa’s increasingly close relations with China and its refusal to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The US provided more than $8 billion in bilateral aid to South Africa over the past two decades, according to a 2023 report from the Congressional Research Service, the nonpartisan office that advises Congress. Much of those funds went to fighting AIDS and other development projects, CRS said.
Trump earlier this week said the US would cut off all funding to South Africa over the land legislation. He’s criticized the policy before and his top billionaire backer — South African-born Elon Musk — has spread the baseless conspiracy theory that there’s a “genocide” against White farmers in the country.
more:
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/rubio-snubs-g-20-meeting-citing-south-africa-s-focus-on-equality/ar-AA1yuWg5
Do something positive.
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