[Source: automagazine.pt]

Jeremy Kuzmarov

Cuba was accepted with 12 other countries as an associate member of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) at the 16^th BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia in late October.

The other new associate members, which bring the BRICS grouping to over 4.6 billion people, or 57% of global population, are Algeria, Belarus, Bolivia, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Nigeria, Thailand, Turkey, Uganda, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam.

The expansion of BRICS grants the new associate member countries the status of “partners,” a position that could open the door to full BRICS membership in the future.

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel was absent from the Kazan summit because he was dealing with Cuba’s recent nationwide blackout, a product of an outdated infrastructure system and Hurricane Oscar’s destruction. Both challenges are amplified crises due to the draconian U.S. blockade on Cuba, which restricts the import of key infrastructural needs by financial, economic, and diplomatic coercion.

Díaz-canel wrote on X that: “#Cuba is honored to enter as a partner country in the #BRICS, five letters and a great hope for the countries of the South, on the arduous path towards a more just, democratic, equitable, and sustainable international order.”

Díaz-canel’s remarks were echoed by Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, who attended the Kazan summit.

He spotlighted the potential of the New Development Bank—headed by former Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff—as a “favorable financial alternative for countries in the Global South” that could help “reduce the influence of the U.S. dollar,” which Rodríguez Parrilla said is “frequently used as an instrument of pressure that has a very negative impact on the quality of life of many of our people.”

Rodríguez Parrilla noted that Cuba was happy to join BRICS since it had “emerged as a key player of growing relevance, authority and leadership on the global geopolitical stage and a real hope for the countries of the South in their complex path towards” a better future.

Cuba stands to benefit in particular from alternative economic arrangements and trading alliances that could help offset the crippling effects of the U.S. economic blockade, a cruel form of punishment that costs Cuba an estimated $455 million per month.

Kazan Summit

Attended by representatives of 36 countries (20 were heads of state), the Kazan summit took place amidst the backdrop of impending global war caused by the relentless aggressiveness of the United States and allies like Israel.

A summit communiqué called for ending the Ukraine war “through dialogue and diplomacy,” expressed “grave concern” at the “mass killing and injury of civilians, forced displacement and widespread destruction of civilian infrastructure” in Gaza, and criticized the Israeli assault and bombardment of southern Lebanon. The communiqué additionally cited “the disruptive effect of unlawful unilateral coercive measures, including illegal sanctions” on economic life.”

As a remedy for the latter, delegates proposed creation of an independent payment infrastructure, called “BRICS Clear,” which aims to reduce dependence on the U.S. dollar and will render obsolete sanctions applied by the U.S. that restrict bank transfers under the current SWIFT international messaging system.^[1]

Delegates to the Kazan summit further endorsed the use of local currencies in financial transactions between BRICS countries and their trading partners.

Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed the establishment of a BRICS “investment platform” to foster physical economic growth, and the creation of a BRICS Grain Exchange to ensure fairer pricing and help ensure food security in developing countries while taking food supplies out of the hands of international speculators.

Over time Putin said that the exchange could grow into a broader commodity exchange including for oil, which would help ensure fair pricing and energy security across the Global South.

Chinese Premier Xi Jinping opened the Kazan summit by calling on BRICS to “help guide the world along the overarching trend of peace and development.”

Xi asked the other leaders: “Should we allow the world to descend into the abyss of disorder and chaos, or should we strive to steer it back on the path of peace and development?”

He answered that the BRICS shared an “unwavering determination” and “willpower” to build “a shared future for mankind,” while voicing support for expanding the BRICS “in light of the rise of the Global South” and need to “enhance the representation and voice of developing nations in global governance.”

Speaking before President Xi, Putin emphasized in his speech the need for tightened cooperation between the BRICS countries and its new members in the realm of technology, education, efficient resource development, trade and logistics, finance and insurance, stating that “we have assumed responsibility for the future of the world, not only in word, but also in deed.”

Putin later told the BRICS Plus/Outreach session: “All our countries share similar aspirations, values and a vision of a new democratic world order that reflects cultural and civilizational diversity. We are confident that such a system should be guided by the universal principles of respect for the legitimate interests and sovereign choice of nations, respect for international law and a spirit of mutually beneficial, honest co-operation.”

Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov elaborated on the BRICS’s purpose and principles, in order to explain why the BRICS is not closed to any nation, even members of NATO or the EU (the admission of NATO-member Turkey as a new BRICS “partner state” served to prove his point):

“There is a political will that unites countries that share the same vision of development prospects. Be it political development, economic development, cultural development and so on. It is an atmosphere in which each other’s interests are taken into account. It is an atmosphere where there are no hegemonic aspirations,” he said.

These latter comments offered a jibe at the U.S. whose hegemonic aspirations have led the world to the brink of World War III.

The BRICS summit makes clear, however, the growth of a huge resistance bloc of nations that is intent on stopping the drive to war while establishing a more egalitarian global economic order.

Barriers to Success and Need for a New Socialist Internationale

One potential barrier to success of the BRICS is divisions among the member states, which is what crippled the non-aligned movement during the first Cold War.

The World Socialist Website (WSWS) pointed out in an article on the Kazan summit that “BRICS member or candidate states, including India and Pakistan or Iran and Saudi Arabia, have repeatedly fought or threatened to fight wars with each other.”

Brazil has also made a point of excluding Venezuela from BRICS because of criticism it has of its government, though Venezuela has been a crucial country in trying to lead Latin American countries towards a path of resource nationalism and away from dependence on the U.S.

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Via https://covertactionmagazine.com/2024/10/28/cuba-becomes-associate-member-of-brics/