Cuba and Bolivia Are Honored to Join BRICS as Partner Countries

BRICS Summit in Kazan, Russia, Oct. 24, 2024. Photo: teleSUR

October 25, 2024 Hour: 10:52 am

In the past year, over 26 countries have also requested to join this economic cooperation group.

On Friday, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said his nation feels honored to have been included as a partner country of BRICS, an economic cooperation group led by Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.

“Cuba is honored to join BRICS as a partner country. These five letters represent a great hope for the Global South countries in the challenging journey toward a more just, democratic, equitable, and sustainable international order,” he said through social media.

“Cuba reaffirms its interest and commitment to join and work alongside the BRICS members in defense of multilateralism, peace, international law, and the development of an agenda of cooperation that addresses Global South’s priorities,” stated Cuban Foreign Affairs Minister Bruno Rodriguez.

Previously, participants at the BRICS Summit held in Kazan adopted a resolution incorporating 13 nations as BRICS partners, although this does not mean they are yet full-fledged members.

These 13 countries received BRICS partner country status:

Turkey, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Algeria, Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nigeria, Thailand, Uganda and Vietnam.

❗️The graphic shows all the countries participating in the summit and their total population. pic.twitter.com/fzA5MoGbde
— Beate Landefeld (@BeateLandefeld) October 24, 2024

On Thursday, Bolivian President Luis Arce also expressed his satisfaction with the inclusion of his nation as a BRICS partner.

“We have made significant efforts and advances with the perspective of becoming a full BRICS member, a bloc that advances each day in consolidating a new multipolar world based on brotherhood, inclusion, cooperation, and mutual benefit, in the framework of respect for sovereignty and self-determination of peoples,” he said.

“This step represents the most important achievement of our foreign policy, with results that will have a multidimensional character covering matters related to geopolitics, culture, economy, finance, and trade. This contributes to advancing our objectives of economic growth with industrialization and income redistribution,” Arce pointed out.

Over the past year, BRICS has significantly expanded its membership, adding full members such as the United Arab Emirates, Iran, Egypt, and Ethiopia. More than 26 countries have also requested to join this economic cooperation group.