The number of countries wishing to become BRICS members is growing like a snowball. After Algeria, Egypt, Bolivia, and some other countries, now Venezuela filed a formal request for membership in this international group, which currently consists of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.
On the eve of the BRICS summit that will be held in Johannesburg, South Africa, on August 22-24, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro officially announced his country’s desire and readiness to join the “group of five.” In an interview with Venezolana de Televisión, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez said she had already sent an official letter to the BRICS secretariat. In addition, on August 3, the Venezuelan Embassy in Moscow submitted an application to Russian representatives for entry into BRICS.
As Rodriguez noted, Venezuela “will put the world’s largest oil reserves at the service of the BRICS Energy Commission” and will also promote the development of new cooperations and the construction of a multipolar world.
According to her, Venezuela is “at the forefront of building international relations without hegemony, blackmail, and unilateral restrictive measures that grossly violate international law.” She stressed that the people of Venezuela are demanding the lifting of the illegal sanctions imposed against the country.
Unlike Russia and China, who are actively advocating the admission of new countries to BRICS, Brazil, represented by its President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, opposed the “rapid and uncontrolled expansion of the group.”