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Argentina is no longer joining Brics, says top aide to Javier Milei, right-wing presidential winner
- ‘We do not understand the interest’ in the bloc of leading emerging markets including China, despite membership being poised to start from January
- But new government unlikely to disrupt ties between Buenos Aires and Beijing given major financial deals already agreed upon, analysts say
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Igor Patrickin Washington
Argentina is no longer joining Brics following the victory of self-proclaimed anarcho-capitalist Javier Milei in the country’s presidential election on Sunday, a top aide said on Monday.
Diana Mondino, Milei’s principal adviser on foreign affairs, said Argentina would not proceed with plans to join the association of leading emerging markets comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
“We do not understand the interest” in the bloc, Mondino told Russian news agency Sputnik News. “We do not understand … what Argentina gets out of it at this moment. If later it turns out that there is an advantage, of course, we will analyse it.”
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Argentina’s Brics candidacy was the only one in the Americas supported by the group’s founding members during its last summit in August. But Milei during his campaign pledged to decline membership, which should come into force from January 2024.
In the election run-off, Milei competed against Argentina’s incumbent finance minister, Sergio Massa. Although electoral officials have yet to ratify the results, preliminary tallies showed Milei secured 56 per cent of the vote, compared to Massa’s 44 per cent, with 99 per cent of ballots counted.
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