Javier Milei, the right-wing populist riding on the anti-establishment wave won the presidency on Monday in a heated election. Milei clinched the presidency from Argentina’s incumbent finance minister Sergio Massa. While Milei secured 56% of the overall votes, Massa received 46% of the votes. The newly elected president had promised on the campaign trail that Argentina would decline BRICS membership if brought to power.
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The populist president had said that Argentina would “not do business with communist countries” while referring to BRICS membership. He also called Russia and China “assassin government” and questioned their intention of inviting Iran to join the bloc. The leader cited Iran’s role in bombing a Jewish center in 1994 in Buenos Aires, calling the memories “an open wound”.
Argentina Has No Plans To Join BRICS, Says Diana Mondino
Milei will take office on December 10, 2023, and could make Argentina the first country to reject the BRICS invitation. Diana Mondino, Milei’s principal adviser on foreign affairs said that Argentina has no intentions of joining the BRICS alliance. “We do not understand the interest,” said Mondino to Russian news agency Sputnik.
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“We do not understand what Argentina gets out of it at this moment. If later it turns out that there is an advantage, of course, we will analyze it,” she said. Reading between the lines, there are high chance that Argentina will not join BRICS on January 1, 2024. The president said previously that Argentina will do business with “the civilized side of the world” only and not with Communist nations.
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Five out of the six countries are likely to join the bloc next year in January. Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, Iran, and Ethiopia could be a part of the BRICS Plus from 2024. Therefore, the alliance will be more stronger in global trade and could challenge the West in the coming years.