With caution and before absences very strong is that BRICS They will meet this Sunday in the city of Rio de Janeiro. The Brazilian city will host the annual meeting of the group of 11 countries, including Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, that together represent almost half of the population of the planet and about 40% of the world GDP.
However, they will not have the presence of Xi Jinping or Vladimir Putin. That is why his host, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, must overcome the absence of his Chinese pair XI, who will lack for the first time since he assumed power in 2012, and his Russian couple, object of an international arrest warrant for alleged war crimes in Ukraine.
The Prime Minister Li qiang will replace XI, while Putin You can participate virtually, according to Moscow.
Relationship with the US will be in a “careful tone”
“The trend is that the tone of the summit is careful: it will be difficult for the United States to be appointed directly In the final statement, “said Marta Fernández, director of the Brics Policy Center at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio. China, for example, “is trying a contained position on the Middle Eastand a summit taken by that conflict may not be interested in Beijing. “
The Chinese government is also “in negotiations on tariffs with the United States, and it may not be time to generate more friction” between the two largest economies in the world.
After the bombardment ordered in June by Trump against Iranian nuclear facilities, The BRICS issued “a totally vague statement” about the conflictsaid Oliver Stuenkel, professor of international relations at the Getúlio Vargas Foundation.
This was due to “the divergences among the members”with countries like India that negotiate trade agreements with Washington and “do not want problems with the United States,” he added. In spite of everything, Brazil aspires to guide a common position in Rio. “The BRICS, throughout their history, have built consensus to speak with one voice about the great issues of international reality and will not be different this time about the Middle East,” He assured the Brazilian Chancellor Mauro Vieira.
Strengthen multilateralism: the mission of the BRICs
The search for a Alternative to the dollar For trade between members, for a time on the table, it seems discarded today. Delarization became “prohibited word” for the BRICSafter Trump threatened them with 100% tariffs if they advanced with that idea, according to Fernández.
The Brazilian presidency aspires to consensus on issues such as The fight against climate change -Clave for the South American country, which this year will host the COP30 In the Amazon city of Belém-, the governance of artificial intelligence and the reform of multilateral organisms.
“The climbing in the Middle East reinforces the urgency of the debate on the need for reform of global governance and the reinforcement of multilateralism”Vieira said.
Since 2023, the BRICS partners list expanded to Saudi Arabia, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia, Indonesia and Iran, lately incorporated into the group founded in 2009 to reinforce the so -called Global South against Western powers.
“The recent extension also makes it more difficult to build strong consensus,” according to Fernández.
Fighters with missiles about Rio
The Armed Forces will deploy more than 20,000 agents to shield Rio de Janeiro during the event, in an operation similar to that mounted for the G20 summit in the Carioca city last November.
The Air Force will close the Santos Dumont Urban Airport and use fighters with missiles to control airspace, a measure that was not taken from the Olympic Games in Rio in 2016.
“The presidents of Russia and China do not come, obviously that changes the level of risk”, but “the geopolitical moment cannot be despised,” said General Lúcio Alves de Souza, spokesman for the security operation.
Source: Ambito
