From https://x.com/BenjaminNorton/status/1871411903144312847
More here : https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2024/10/26/brics-13-partner-countries-summit-kazan-russia
(minus Argentina since the 1st of January 2024)
(and Saudi Arabia is still hesitating)
The G77(, now 134 members), was founded 60 years ago, in 1966, while the G7 was only founded 7 years later in 1973, and the G20 in 1999.
The BRICS formed in 2006(, officially in 2009), with the specific aim of countering neo-colonial institutions like the "unholy trinity"(, IMF, WTO, World Bank), hence more extended than the diplomatic relations of the G77, e.g. by creating investment banks.
More secondarily they also funded the Contingent Reserve Arrangement. They're also trying to break free from other neo-colonial tools by other means than creating institutions, e.g. with de-dollarization. Russia created an alternative to the western-dominated SWIFT, which may be adopted by the rest of the BRICS+, as well as the Mir payment system.
And there are also other non-financial institutions, such as the BRICS Institute of Future Networks(, 5G, a.i., ...), space cooperation, the BRICS Innovation Network, the BRICS Vaccine Research Center, ...
Russia and India are exchanging gas, China and Brazil are exchanging solar panels, etc..
The BRICS Business Council, Business Forum, the BRICS Women’s Business Alliance, and probably hundreds more, you get the idea. They're not going to wait for the west to stop putting themselves first. Ideally, there would be world institutions and everyone would help each other and laugh at the idea of being nationalists at the expense of others, but we're not there and may never be, how many countries are waiting for a chance for revenge, or would feel safer with their old opponents definitely out ? Eat or be eaten i suppose, even if there are other ways...
I really hope Cuba can leverage this to survive the economic war being waged by the US. It's almost certainly going to get even worse again, but if BRICS breaks the blockade the island might be able to start to heal.
There's a lot of potential for Cuba to develop alongside BRICS. Russia has no reason to care what the west thinks at this point, and I'm hoping China will choose to start being assertive as well. Even if just those two opened up serious trade with Cuba then things would improve rapidly.
I think China is trying to prolong this uneasy peace with the West as long as possible, to wait for an opportune moment. As soon as they start making moves the West will overreact and hurt itself in its confusion, so they just need to wait for the best possible time.
Which is coming very soon if Trump follows through with blowing up the NAFTA and NATO trading bloc with tariffs.
That's my impression as well. It looks like Trump is very likely to escalate economic warfare with China, and he's going to try to prevent trade outside the dollar from expanding. China cannot agree to that because they realize that the dollar will be weaponized against them at some point in the near future.
Cuba has a great treatment for LGBTQ people. This is one of nearest places to seek refuge in case LGBTQ Americans might be persecuted by Trump BS.
Gonna need to take my español lessons more seriously. 😅