“At the summit in South Africa, Venezuela was accepted as a partner. And I hope that at the next summit in Russia <…> Venezuela will join BRICS+ as a permanent member,” Maduro said in a traditional interview on January 1 with the newspaper Le Monde diplomatique, TASS reports.
He stressed that “BRICS is the future of humanity,” pointing at the economic potential of the group and the capabilities of the New BRICS Development Bank.
“We are betting on BRICS as part of a new world, a new balance, as part of the Bolivarian geopolitical concept, a world of balance, a world of equals,” Maduro concluded.
BRICS was formed in 2006 and initially included Brazil, Russia, India and China. South Africa joined the intergovernmental organization in 2011. In August 2023, six new members were invited to join the association, including Argentina, but at the end of December it refused to join the group. Five new members (Egypt, Iran, UAE, Saudi Arabia and Ethiopia) began full-fledged work in BRICS on January 1 under the chairmanship of Russia.
RHM/PR
