Marco Rubio Will Not Attend G20 Meeting in South Africa

Marco Rubio, the U.S. Secretary of State, stated that he will not participate in the upcoming G20 Foreign Ministers' meeting in South Africa due to the country's changing policies regarding land and climate conditions and the promotion of the policy of 'diversity, equity, and inclusion.' On Wednesday, February 6, Rubio wrote on the social media platform X: 'South Africa is doing many bad things, including private property expropriation, using the G20 to promote solidarity, equity, and sustainability, which is actually the same as diversity, equity, and inclusion, and climate change.' He added: 'My duty is to advance U.S. national interests, not to waste taxpayer money or coddle anti-Americans.' Donald Trump, the President of the United States, has targeted the so-called 'diversity, equity, and inclusion' policy since his return to the White House. Trump is also skeptical about climate change and last month withdrew the U.S. from the Paris Agreement for the second time. Trump is cutting U.S. financial aid to South Africa. He has also criticized South Africa's new land ownership policies, stating that 'South Africa is seizing land' and treating 'certain social classes' 'very badly.' Additionally, Elon Musk, the South African-born billionaire close to Trump, has accused South Africa of having 'racist property laws' and claimed that white people are victims of these laws. Cyril Ramaphosa, the President of South Africa, enacted a law last January that makes the expropriation of land 'in the public interest' easier in the country. The purpose of this law is to address 'racial imbalance in land ownership,' which continues three decades after the end of apartheid in South Africa. Black South Africans claim that white people took their land during apartheid and have not returned it; conversely, white farmers argue that their land has been seized without compensation.