BRICS invited six new countries to join the bloc during the 15th summit in August 2023 in Johannesburg. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Iran, and Ethiopia accepted the invitation and are now inducted into BRICS. Argentina is the only country to decline BRICS membership as the newly-elected President Javier Milei is skeptical about the alliance. Read here to know the exact reason why Argentina declined BRICS membership early this year. However, Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro slammed Argentina’s leader Milei for rejecting BRICS membership.
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Argentina is ‘Stupid’ For Declining BRICS Membership, Says Venezuela’s President
Venezuela’s President Maduro called Argentina’s newly-elected leader Milei’s decision to reject BRICS membership “stupid”. Maduro stressed that Milei’s decision to reject BRICS is taking Argentina back to the 19th century. His decision “takes Argentina back to the 19th century,” said Maduro.
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Venezuela’s President also added that Milei is acting against the interest of Argentina’s people and has self-serving virtues. He stressed that Milei’s interest in serving Argentina and its people is the last thing on his mind.
Maduro also called Milei’s decision “clumsy and stupid” for declining the BRICS invitation despite it being served on a silver platter. “By excluding Argentina from BRICS, he (Javier Milei) is acting against the Argentines. This is one of the most clumsy and stupid things that Milei has done against Argentina,” Maduro said to Le Monde Diplomatique newspaper on January 1, 2024.
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He also hit out at Milei’s right-wing aggression and unreal promises that plagued the presidential campaign. “The presidential elections in Argentina were won by far-right neo-fascism. The far right with a colonial project for Argentina, who intend to lead the neo-colonial project throughout Latin America and the Caribbean,” he said.
In addition, Maduro added that he hopes the BRICS alliance will invite Venezuela to join the bloc in 2024. Read here to know how many countries have expressed interest in joining the BRICS group in 2024.