APEC, G20 mark Latin America's moment

With the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Leaders Meeting in Lima, Peru, being immediately followed by the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, all eyes are on Latin America. These gatherings have always held importance for the world, as they bring together global leaders to discuss issues critical to global prosperity, security and cooperation.

The stakes are particularly high this year, with both meetings taking place amid a tumultuous global landscape marked by economic struggles, geopolitical tensions and widespread challenges that need collaborative solutions.

People's expectations of the meetings were very high even before Donald Trump was elected the United States' president for a second time, because many consider APEC and the G20 to be platforms for promoting global cooperation, especially at a time when countries are striving to revive economic growth. Yet now, with Trump's victory in the presidential election and his return to the White House in January, world leaders in Peru and Brazil will likely be grappling with a new question: how to defend multilateralism when one of the world's largest economies, to be soon led by Trump, seems increasingly inclined toward a unilateral approach.