Argentina: Where's The Red Carpet?

ARGENTINA

Where’s the Red Carpet?

Argentina has urged residents to leave Buenos Aires ahead of the G20 summit, which begins Friday.

The city has already gone into full security shutdown, the UK’s Guardian newspaper reported, and on Friday flights over the city will be diverted and public transportation suspended. The authorities are expecting 33 anti-G20 protests and cultural events.

“We know there are attempts to generate spaces of extreme violence and situations of chaos and disturbances during the G20,” said the security minister, Patricia Bullrich.

Of special concern is the scheduled attendance of Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, who is under fire for the war in Yemen and the killing of the dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Apart from possible demonstrations aimed at him, Human Rights Watch presented a writ Monday arguing that the Argentinian courts should invoke a universal jurisdiction statute to prosecute him for war crimes and torture.

It’s likely to be an eventful summit in other ways, too, with President Donald Trump saying he’ll meet Prince Mohammed but might rebuff Russian President Vladimir Putin over Moscow’s seizure of Ukrainian ships on Sunday.