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

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro declared 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' Summit (Expanded) in Kazan, Russia. (Source: VGP)

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

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

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

Former Foreign Minister Celso Amorim, an advisor to President Lula, said the veto was due to Venezuela's "violation of trust."

According to him, President Maduro promised his counterpart Lula that he would release the detailed results of the July 28 election, but he has yet to do so.

In Kazan, President Maduro announced that he had met with officials from "nearly 30 governments" and that "all" congratulated him on his "great election victory."

Prior to the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that approximately 30 countries were interested in joining BRICS through various means. Among the countries that publicly expressed their desire to join the group were Belarus, Cuba, Venezuela, Türkiye, Azerbaijan, Malaysia, Pakistan, and others.

However, at the end of June this year, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced that BRICS would temporarily suspend membership admissions 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