Venezuelan President Votes Against Joining BRICS by Brazil, Says He Will Not "Stay Silent"

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said on October 26 (local time) that his country would not remain silent after Brazil vetoed the Caracas government's attempt to join the BRICS group of emerging economies .

Plenary session of the BRICS Leaders' Meeting in Kazan, Russia. (Source: VGP)

Venezuela has long sought to join the BRICS group. However, the South American country is experiencing an unprecedented economic crisis, which the government blames on US sanctions.

At the summit in Kazan, Russia, this week, Brazil's veto angered Venezuela, which called it "hostile" and "immoral."

Although Brazilian President Lula da Silva is a longtime ally of Mr. Maduro, relations between the two sides have been tense since Mr. Maduro's controversial re-election on July 28.

Former Foreign Minister Celso Amorim, an adviser to President Lula, said the veto was due to a "breach of trust" by Venezuela.

According to him, President Maduro promised his counterpart Lula to announce detailed results of the July 28 election but has not yet done so.

In Kazan, President Maduro said he had met officials from "almost 30 governments" and "all" congratulated him on his "great electoral victory".

Before the BRICS Conference took place in Kazan, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that about 30 countries were interested in joining BRICS in different forms. Among the countries that openly expressed their desire to join the group are Belarus, Cuba, Venezuela, Türkiye, Azerbaijan, Malaysia, Pakistan,...

However, at the end of June this year, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced that BRICS would temporarily suspend membership admission in order to complete the integration of new members joining the bloc at the beginning of the year.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/bi-brazil-phu-quyet-gia-nhap-brics-tong-thong-venezuela-tuyen-bo-se-khong-im-lang-291580.html