Days after Argentine President Alberto Fernández pleaded for the country to be included in the Brics (a bloc formed by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), the Foreign Ministry stated that it does not see room for discussion in the group about its possible expansion.
“BRICS is an informal coordination and cooperation group between five significant emerging countries, which represent 53% of the population, 24% of the territory and 24% of the world’s GDP. There is no ‘constitutive agreement’ for the grouping, given its informal nature, therefore there is no officially established process for the entry of new members”, said the ministry in response to questions sent by the leaf. “There is currently no discussion in the group about its possible expansion.”
On a recent trip to Moscow and Beijing, Fernández asked Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping for support for Argentina’s entry into the BRICS.
The request came as a surprise to interlocutors in the Jair Bolsonaro (PL) government, who said, on condition of anonymity, that in recent years diplomats from the neighboring country have not dealt with the dispute with their Brazilian counterparts.
Brazilian diplomacy under the current president has reduced the emphasis given to the BRICS and maintains little proximity to Argentina.
The term Bric was launched in 2001 by the Goldman Sachs bank, to point to emerging economies that, according to predictions, would stand out in the 21st century: Brazil, Russia, India and China. Formal dialogue between the four founders began in 2006, and annual meetings of heads of state began in 2009. Two years later, South Africa was invited to join the alliance, given its leadership role on the African continent.
Decisions in the group are made by consensus, and the entry of a new member would depend on the acceptance of the five current members. The alliance allows countries to coordinate on different topics and also guarantees a permanent consultation forum.
It was also within the scope of the BRICS that the members founded the NDB (New Development Bank). It is a financial institution with authorized capital of US$ 100 billion and subscribed capital of US$ 50 billion, with the founding members holding 20% of the shares each, according to Itamaraty.
Privately, interlocutors in the Bolsonaro government pointed out obstacles, from the Brazilian point of view, to Argentina’s entry into the alliance. The first is that the eventual entry would represent a dilution of the power of Brazil, which, as the only representative of Latin America, acts as a regional leader due to the facilitated dialogue that participation in the BRICS allows with these powers.
Still in this aspect, it is considered that the BRICS was founded as a limited bloc and that opening the doors to a new Latin American could trigger discussions about the entry of more countries from other continents, generating friction with the other current members.
The group is also currently facing difficulties in reaching consensus on certain political issues, which is seen as another obstacle to its eventual extension.
THE leaf the Itamaraty also said that “BRICS values dialogue with other developing countries, carried out in ‘outreach’ sessions [diálogo externo]”.
“In these meetings, BRICS has promoted interactions with countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America, as well as with international organizations, since 2013, in order to seek common solutions to the problems faced by developing nations”, says the note. “Brazil could support the resumption of ‘Brics outreach’, suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic, as long as sanitary conditions allow it.”
Despite this claim, the Bolsonaro government did not want to invite countries in the region to the bloc’s summit held in Brasilia in 2019 along these lines, which generated frustration in other Brics members at the time.
