Brazil’s President Lula da Silva assured on Tuesday that the BRICS bloc is not a counterpoint to the group of the world’s seven most developed countries (G7) or the Group of Twenty (G20, developed and emerging countries).
“The BRICS [bloco formado por Brasil, Rússia, Índia, China e África do Sul] they are not a counterpoint to the G7, or the G20, or against anyone. We want to organize ourselves as a Global South, something that did not exist before,” said Lula da Silva in a live broadcast on the social network X (formerly Twitter).
The statement was released ahead of the intervention at the XV Summit of Heads of State and Government of the BRICS, which began this Tuesday in Johannesburg, South Africa.
“Us [os BRICS] We are important in the global debate and we must be on an equal footing at the negotiating tables with the European Union and the United States,” the Brazilian president stressed.
In the context of this group of emerging economies, which some specialists see as a challenge to Western hegemony, Lula da Silva stressed the need to “create a fairer and more inclusive world”.
“What we need to do now is to end starvation on planet Earth. It is to ensure that everyone can live with dignity. We have money for that. We need political will. The BRICS have this symbology: create a new and strong organ around the world,” he added.
On the same broadcast, Brazil’s head of state said he will promote a “de-dollarization” of trade with the other countries of the BRICS bloc.
“We are going to exchange our currencies and the central banks agree at the end of each month. Brazil with China, with India (…) We have to discuss this,” said the Brazilian president.
At the summit in South Africa, BRICS leaders are expected to continue the debate on ending the use of the dollar in their economies.
“We defend a business reference currency so as not to need another country’s currency. Why do I do business with China and need the dollar? Brazil and China are big enough to do business with their currency or in another reference currency. unity,” added Lula da Silva.
In that sense, the Brazilian president said that emerging economies “cannot depend on a single country that has dollars” and must be “forced to live with fluctuations” in that currency.
Lula da Silva made these remarks before the start of the Leaders’ Economic Forum, which meets on Tuesday at a summit in Johannesburg that ends Thursday and will address issues such as the bloc’s expansion.
The event will be attended by the presidents of Brazil, China, Xi Jinping and South Africa, host Cyril Ramaphosa, alongside Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Russian President Vladimir Putin will speak via video conference due to the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes in Ukraine.
Source: DN
