Venezuela voices interest in de-dollarization, BRICS membership
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Maduro adds his country's intent to establish a new financial architecture allowing transactions to occur via both physical and digital methods in multiple national currencies.
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Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro, Bolivia's President Luis Arce, and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva assemble for a group photo during the South American Summit at Itamaraty palace in Brasilia, Brazil, May 30, 2023. (AP)
During his speech at the BRICS summit in the South African capital of Johannesburg, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro reiterated his country's interest in the BRICS membership, after applying for it earlier this month, and voiced his intent to contribute to Venezuela's oil-rich economy while reaping benefits from its common goal with the bloc's ambition to end the dependence on the dollar.
"Venezuela joins the requests of countries wishing to join BRICS as we have recently confirmed," Maduro said, adding that Venezuela is home to the largest oil resources in the world and could contribute greatly to the "global integration model".
He further urged for establishing a new financial model that does not rely on the US dollar.
Read more: The BRICS, countering Western centuries-long hegemony
"The reality of recent years has demonstrated the necessity to move forward with the de-dollarization of the global economy amid the US currency being used as a mechanism of economic war against the free nations of the world. Recent studies have shown that at least 30 countries, accounting for 28% of the global population, are affected by imperialistic sanctions and other measures of economic war".
Road to El-'De-dollarization'
Maduro added his country's intent to establish a new financial architecture allowing transactions to occur via both physical and digital methods in multiple national currencies.
Speaking of the economy, Maduro underlined that this would amplify the restoration and growth of the Venezuelan economy - already forecast to grow by over 5%, the highest figure in the region.
This comes the same day after Cuba's President Miguel Diaz-Canel expressed that the bloc's New Development Bank (NDB) should serve as the alternative to modern financial institutions that aim "to obtain resources from the countries of the South."
"The New Development Bank created by BRICS can and should become an alternative to modern financial institutions that have been using outdated recipes for about a century to obtain resources from the countries of the South," he said.
BRICS is attracting countries that aim to steer away from a system controlled by the collective West and adopt a model of international relations based on mutual partnership, South Africa's minister of public works and infrastructure told Sputnik on Wednesday.
"[The] majority of the countries in the world are yearning for a platform where they could cooperate at a mutual level without being dominated by the so-called superpowers. And that's why many people are eager to join BRICS," Minister Sihle Zikalala said.
