In the next few hours, the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party and President of the Republic of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, will participate in the BRICS Summit, which will be held between August 22 and 24 in South Africa. Regarding their presence at this important event, the press team of the Presidency of the Republic spoke with Rodolfo Benítez Verson, general director of Multilateral Affairs and International Law of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who shared important ideas that help to better understand the functioning of this group and its importance in the current international scenario.
At first, we would like you to help us convey to our readers, in a succinct manner, what the BRICS are, how they emerged and what role they have played since their foundation in the international arena, both economically and politically.
-The grouping known as BRICS was created in 2006 by Brazil, Russia, India and China. South Africa joined in 2011. The group's name is derived from the initials of its five current members.
The first formal meeting of heads of state and government of the BRICS took place in 2009, in Russia. Since then, a total of 14 Summits have been held, with an annual frequency.
The Group does not have a Permanent Secretariat or institutional headquarters. The presidency is annual and rotates among its five members, who assume the institutionality, organization and planning of the group's activities during the year of their mandate. South Africa currently serves as president.
The BRICS group is a relatively new player in global geopolitics. However, its role and influence in the international sphere has been growing rapidly in recent years.
I believe that the Group has the potential to continue significantly increasing its global relevance in the future.
The five members, together, represent 41% of the world's population; 30% of the earth's surface; 20% of world exports; 17% of imports, and a third of world food production.
Their economies represent 27% of the world's GDP, and four of the five members are among the 11 countries with the highest GDP globally.
Cuba attends the BRICS Summit in South Africa invited as Pro Tempore President of the G-77 + China, and in fact, four countries that make up the BRICS are also members of this group (India, Brazil, South Africa, and, of course, China). Taking into account the diversity of nations that make up the G-77 + China, what do you consider to be the issues that the Greater Antilles, representing it, should not fail to address at this Summit?
-Certainly Cuba attends the BRICS Summit with the enormous responsibility of representing the Group of 77 and China at that important meeting, which is the largest and most diverse group of developing nations that exists. Its 134 member countries constitute two thirds of the UN members and 80% of the planet's population.
This will be the first participation of the Greater Antilles and a Cuban President in a BRICS Summit.
Our country has historically maintained excellent relations with the five members of the BRICS and our exchanges in multilateral forums are very fluid, based on the convergent positions we have on many issues on the international agenda.
The Cuban delegation will advocate at this South Africa Summit to enhance synergies and effective coordination between the BRICS and the Group of 77 and China, as a way to promote the defense of the legitimate claims of the nations of the South and ensure greater representation and voice of developing countries in decision-making within international economic and financial institutions.
We will emphasize the need for a more stable, predictable and diversified international monetary order. We will advocate for the defense of multilateralism and respect for the Charter of the United Nations and International Law.
We will also express our rejection of the imposition of unilateral coercive measures, as is the case of the criminal and illegal blockade imposed by the Government of the United States against the Cuban people. We will defend the promotion of an international model of solidarity-based cooperation and mutual benefit, without interference in the internal affairs of any State.
The BRICS Summit is taking place in one of the most complex moments of humanity. What are the issues that its member countries have planned on the agenda of the meeting? What is this meeting expected to contribute in the midst of an international context? so complex?
-The 15th BRICS Summit, which will take place in Johannesburg from August 22 to 24, has as its central theme: “BRICS and Africa: partnership for accelerated mutual growth, sustainable development and inclusive multilateralism.”
By the way, this will be the first in-person BRICS Summit meeting since 2019. The meetings of this type held in the previous three years, in Russia, India and China, were virtual, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The South Africa Summit will be divided into three major moments. Meetings of the BRICS Business Forum and Business Council and the New Development Bank will be held on August 22.
On August 23, the BRICS member states will have a meeting and the following day the BRICS Plus Dialogues will be held, in which Cuba will participate.
Through these Dialogues, the aim is to create a channel of communication and direct exchange between BRICS members and developing countries with similar positions, as is the case of Cuba.
In addition to the central theme of the Summit, the Dialogues will focus on the evaluation of the current international correlation of forces; the identification of modalities for better articulation and coordination of developing countries in the interest of promoting a new world order and strengthening multilateralism; the reform of the international financial architecture; post-pandemic recovery, and compliance with the Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda agreed upon by the UN, among other topics.
The eventual expansion of BRICS membership will also be discussed.
The objective is to advance an alternative vision to the current world order designed by Western developed countries and large transnational corporations, which is deeply unjust and hostile to the progress of our Southern nations.
The current international order is only effective for tiny minorities. It must be changed and that is a position in which the BRICS, the Group of 77 and China agree and which, of course, Cuba also defends.
One of the greatest expectations that has been generated around this Summit is the alleged capacity of the BRICS countries to move towards a multipolar world. Will they actually have that capacity?
-Today no one can question the growing authority of the BRICS at the international level. The group has a high geographical, demographic and economic potential. Its clear intention to seek synergies with other developing countries, as demonstrated by these BRICS Plus Dialogues in which Cuba will participate on August 24, to promote joint action in the international sphere, in my opinion is providing the BRICS with a growing capacity to become a solid alternative bloc to the commercial, financial, economic and political governance model imposed by Western power centers
The necessary conditions are gradually being created for a transition to a multipolar order that counterbalances the United States and the Western powers.
Another issue that has also been widely addressed by the media is the expansion of the BRICS. In fact, there is speculation about the attendance of around thirty heads of State and Government among the more than fifty official delegations that It is estimated that they will go to Johannesburg. Will the BRICS expand? What political meaning and economic impact could this scenario cause?
-A growing number of developing countries have expressed interest, formally or informally, in joining the BRICS. This is clearly a reflection of the growing relevance of the group in the international sphere.
The current members have been preparing for the growth of the organization and creating the conditions to assimilate new members.
Everything seems to indicate that there will be a gradual process of expansion of the BRICS, which could begin this year or next. As I noted previously, this is precisely one of the topics planned on the agenda of the BRICS Summit in South Africa.
From our point of view, the eventual expansion of the BRICS is positive, a fact that would contribute to reinforcing its relevance and representativeness at a global level.
Permanent Mission of Cuba to the United Nations/Presidencia Cuba