Wars and Argentine President Milei set the Davos agenda
Wars in Gaza and Ukraine and an expected speech by Argentina's new president, Javier Milei, will mark this year's agenda at the Davos Forum, the annual meeting of the world's elites that kicks off on Monday in Switzerland.
The 2024 edition comes "in the most complicated geopolitical and economic context in several decades", Borge Brende, president of the World Economic Forum (WEF), founded in 1971, acknowledged this week.
"The war in Gaza continues and there are fears of escalation," he warned, explaining that the aim of the forum this time will be "to see how to avoid a further deterioration of the situation and to look to the future".
Davos will once again be the meeting point for Latin American leaders, with an expected Javier Milei, who could revolutionise the forum as former US president Donald Trump, to whom he has sometimes been compared, did in his day.
In his first weeks in power, the ultra-liberal Argentinean has presented a programme of radical reforms in a context of severe economic crisis, with annual inflation exceeding 160% and poverty at 40%.
But his measures face judicial obstacles and strong opposition from trade unions.
In Davos, his first trip abroad as president, Milei will give a solemn speech on Wednesday and has already received more than 60 requests for bilateral meetings, the president himself told the Argentine media, in a forum where many leaders come in search of investment.
Petro and Sánchez
In recent years, Latin America has been increasingly present at the forum, which is held in an exclusive ski resort in the Swiss Alps.
In addition to strictly financial and commercial issues, topics such as biodiversity, health and disinformation are also discussed.
Among the guests is once again the president of Colombia, the leftist Gustavo Petro, who last year surprised with a harsh plea to "overcome" capitalism at the forum, a symbol for his detractors of the worst excesses of globalisation.
Brazil, on the front line on issues such as deforestation and climate change, will be represented by several ministers, among them the head of the environment ministry, Marina Silva.
Peru's foreign minister, Javier González-Olaechea, will also take part. Also on the agenda is a speech by the Spanish President, the Socialist Pedro Sánchez.
Ecuador's President Daniel Noboa was scheduled to attend, but was cancelled due to the situation in his country, which is immersed in an unprecedented wave of violence.
The wars in the spotlight
In total, and alongside hundreds of business leaders and economic decision-makers, Davos announced the participation of more than 60 heads of state or government.
Among them Chinese Premier Li Qiang, the highest-ranking Beijing official to participate in the meeting since President Xi Jinping's visit in 2017, who will arrive just after Taiwan's elections on Saturday.
The list of participants includes US diplomatic chief Antony Blinken, Israeli President Isaac Herzog and the prime ministers of Lebanon, Qatar and Jordan.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenski, who until now has only intervened remotely, will come in person this time, again seeking Western support in the face of the Russian invasion of his country, which is about to turn two years old.
Snow and cocktails
The big names in global capitalism will also be present, including Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and OpenAI's Sam Altman, the company that has revolutionised artificial intelligence with its conversational robot ChatGPT.
Some 5,000 Swiss military personnel are involved in the impressive security arrangements in the small Alpine village, under surveillance by fighter jets.
Alongside the official programme, the forum is also a meeting place behind the scenes for political and economic elites from all over the world, not only at official meetings but also at cocktail parties and parties of all kinds.
This opacity is fuelling suspicions and criticism from international NGOs, but also from trade unionists.
In this sense, the Swiss socialist youth called for a demonstration on Sunday against a "closed meeting between the powerful and the rich" who "are responsible for the crises and wars".
