2023-11-25 08:50:00
“Our geopolitical alignment is the United States and Israel, we are not going to align ourselves with communists.” This phrase is from August, it corresponds to the candidate Javier Milei who had obtained the highest percentage of votes in the PASO and referred to his rejection of Argentina’s entry into the BRICS.
Three months later, with Milei already elected president and in the midst of forming his next government, the situation seems to have changed. It happens that the libertarian began to show signs of moderating his speech when it comes to foreign policy, especially with China, Brazil and even the BRICS.
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As TN learned from different sources of La Libertad Avanza (LLA), at this time the idea of the team of internationals, headed by the possible future chancellor Diana Mondino, is seriously analyzing the possibility of maintaining the inclusion of the BRICS, although with a participation very low intensity.
The group of developing economies made up of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa formally invited Argentina – along with Iran, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Ethiopia – to join as of January 1, 2024. If no change occurs, the accession would begin to become effective on that date.
The libertarian analysis of joining the BRICS
Part of the decision that, in principle, Javier Milei’s team would be making responds to what experts in the field advise both him and Mondino: “Argentina is not in a position to reject spaces of belonging, in the most places we can be, the better.”
This idea is what is repeated in a large part of the diplomatic and academic offices that are frequently consulted by Milei’s international team. They consider that the BRICS represents “an opportunity rather than a risk” for Argentina, as various representatives who follow the issue closely assured TN.
Milei’s international team moves quickly to form teams and establish ties abroad. (Photo: X @DianaMondino).
Why an opportunity? Just as in the G20, the BRICS are not carried out only during the leaders’ summit that occurs once a year, but rather has prior coordination work between different sectors of each of the member countries that allows for a link almost exclusively with officials and representatives of those nations.
“Think about how many countries in the world would like to have the possibility of, over the course of a year, having about 100 meetings with different Chinese government officials, for example. Many would like to be sitting at that table and they can’t,” says a diplomat for this article who is far from identifying with the Peronist wing of the Foreign Ministry.
Read also: From the tense relationship with Brazil and China to the bond with the Pope: the challenges of Milei’s foreign policy
Nothing is written in stone, but the position that prevails and receives the most internal consensus is to enter and adopt a moderate position that allows Argentina to occupy a place in an influential group, but without exposing itself to uncomfortable photos with “unusual partners.” desired” such as Iran.
It’s part of the same moderation that the libertarian seems to have taken with China. This last week, Diana Mondino met with the ambassador of the Asian giant in Argentina, Wang Wei, where the diplomat gave her a letter from Xi Jinping and they committed to working together, as this media learned.
Diana Mondino met this week with the Chinese ambassador to Argentina. (Photo: Ariel Grinberg/Clarín)
Days before that meeting, the spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mao Ning, had considered that Argentina would make a “serious mistake” if it broke relations with Beijing, as Milei had promised during the campaign.
China is the second trading partner and Brazil, Argentina’s first partner, participates in the BRICS. Maintaining links with both would help not only sustain the import and export market, but also boost it if there is a political decision.
Milei’s new foreign ministry knows that it needs to strengthen trade partners to push for greater foreign exchange generation and boost the domestic productive sector.
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