This statement was made by the Argentine Minister of Foreign Affairs, Diana Mondino, during a visit to India, after persistent rumors about the desire of her country to reverse this decision announced on the first day of arrival at the presidency of Javier Milei.
The day before, all Argentinian dailies covering Mondino’s visit to India reported that Argentina could review its decision on BRICS membership.
However, Mondino confirmed that “Argentina will not join BRICS. Our business relationship with each of its members, on an individual level, has never been better. The government’s foreign policy has been and will remain extremely clear” on this subject.
She added that “we are more interested in Mercosur than in BRICS membership.”
Mercosur is a regional grouping which brings together, in addition to Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Bolivia.
The BRICS bloc is an economic and political association formed by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
It is seen as an economic counterweight to the bloc of Western countries led by the European Union (EU).
Argentina was scheduled to join BRICS, starting January 1, 2024, along with Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Ethiopia, the United Arab Emirates and Iran.
However, in December 2023, the Argentine government informed BRICS members of its decision not to join this bloc and its desire to politically align with Western countries.
