In around four weeks, Argentina should join the BRICS group of countries, which aims to be a counterweight to the G7. But the future Foreign Minister Mondino has now announced the about-face.
According to its future foreign minister, Argentina has decided against joining the BRICS alliance of the most important emerging countries. “We will not join the BRICS group,” wrote Diana Mondino on the X platform (formerly Twitter). In doing so, she rejected the invitation from the bloc of states in the summer.
Russia and China want a G7 counterbalance
Argentina is one of the six countries that were invited to join the alliance at the BRICS summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, in August. The group of most important emerging countries currently includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – which also explains the name. The planned expansion, which China has pushed for, is intended to give the bloc more global weight.
China and Russia in particular are insisting on a counterweight to the West, while Brazil rejects a front position with the G7 alliance of the most important western industrialized countries. In addition to Argentina, the BRICS countries had agreed on Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates as possible new members.
Major upheavals expected
Argentina is facing radical restructuring following the clear victory of right-wing populist Javier Milei in the presidential election in November. During the election campaign, the neoliberal politician announced economic shock therapy for the country, which is struggling with triple-digit inflation rates, an economic slowdown and increasing poverty. The new government is scheduled to be sworn in on December 10th.
Milei announced that he would make former central bank chief Luis Caputo his economics minister. He justified the selection by saying that expertise was needed to solve economic problems.
Caputo, a former Wall Street banker, would be no newcomer to Argentine government business. At the end of 2015, he was appointed Finance Minister by then President Mauricio Macri. He became head of the central bank in 2018, but resigned after just three months. At the time, the country was in the middle of negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Argentina is the fund’s largest debtor at $44 billion.