On Nov. 20, the Trump administration confirmed that no U.S. government official would be attending the G20 meeting, which took place in Johannesburg, South Africa on Nov. 22-23, marking the first summit to be held on the African continent. Founded in 1999, and with annual meetings commencing in 2008, the G20 comprises 19 sovereign nations, the European Union (EU), and the African Union (AU), with other nations invited periodically to attend, but not to officially participate, such as Spain.
President Trump stated on social media on Nov. 7 that “It is a total disgrace that the G20 will be held in South Africa. Afrikaners (People who are descended from Dutch settlers, and also French and German immigrants) are being killed and slaughtered, and their land and farms are being illegally confiscated. No U.S. Government Official will attend as long as these Human Rights abuses continue.”
Some Afrikaner groups themselves have protested that they are under no such persecution, and experienced political analysts with EIR have pointed to the role of the involvement of British intelligence in fostering division among many African nations over the decades (see EIR, “British ‘State Capture’ of South Africa Must End!” https://larouchepub.com/eiw/public/2017/eirv44n34-20170825/19-30_4434.pdf).
On Nov. 12, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa spoke to reporters outside the South African Parliament, saying: “It is unfortunate that the United States decided not to attend the G20. The United States by not being at the G20, one must never think that we are not going to go on with the G20. The G20 will go on. All other heads of state will be here. In the end, we will take fundamental decisions and their absence is their loss.”
The President added that the U.S. is “giving up the very important role that they should be playing as the biggest economy in the world.”
