Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro gives his speech at the 15th BRICS Summit of Heads of State and Government, held in Johannesburg, South Africa, on August 23, 2023. Photo: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Venezuela.
The president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, participated in the recently concluded 15th Summit of Heads of State and Government of the BRICS, held in Johannesburg, South Africa. This was the first time that Venezuela participated in a meeting of the largest emerging economies’ cooperation bloc.
The following are the key points of his speech, given at the event titled “BRICS+ Rapprochement Dialogue,” held on Wednesday, August 23.
Venezuela advocates for new international financial system
“Venezuela joins the call for the creation of a new global financial system that would allow us to carry out our transactions with innovative physical and digital means, and with a wide array of national currencies,” President Maduro said, “as well as to access new forms of financing that would contribute to the recovery and strengthening of our economies, like that of Venezuela, whose projected growth this year is above 5%, the highest in Latin America according to ECLAC [Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean of the United Nations Organization].”
Venezuela reiterates intention to join BRICS
“Venezuela joins several countries with aspirations to join the BRICS,” President Maduro said in his speech. “As we officially expressed in a letter in 2015, which we further ratified recently, we wish to contribute to this global integration model with the largest certified oil reserves in the world, as well as other resources of our nation. Our country has abundant mineral resources: over 20% of the world’s iron, copper and gold reserves, in addition to silver, bauxite, coltan, nickel, rhodium, titanium. Venezuela also has a strategic geographical position in the north of South America.”
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Venezuela backs de-dollarization to overcome barriers imposed by unilateral coercive measures
“Venezuela’s experience in the struggle and resistance against the illegal imposition of criminal sanctions, of unilateral coercive measures, is another fundamental aspect that we are willing to share with the BRICS group and all its friends,” Maduro said. “The reality of the last few years has made evident the need to advance the process of de-dollarization of the world economy, to overcome the effects of the indiscriminate use and abuse of the US currency as a mechanism of economic warfare against the free peoples of the world.”
“Recent studies have shown that at least 30 nations, 28% of the world’s population, about 2.178 billion human beings, are impacted by imperialist sanctions and other measures of extortion and economic warfare,” he continued. “The damage to our economies and development models is undeniable. These measures have a negative impact on the security of human rights, as recognized by the UN Human Rights Council in March 2023.”
BRICS as a way to achieve Simón Bolívar’s dream
“200 years ago, in the midst of the struggle for our independence, for the independence of the Americas, our Liberator Simón Bolívar proposed the creation of what we today would call a multipolar and pluricentric world, as he put it: to achieve the longed-for universal balance,” President Maduro commented. “I sincerely believe that with the emergence of the BRICS, we are closer than ever to achieve Simón Bolívar’s dream, which is the dream of the Patria Grande, the dream of the great homeland of mankind.”
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Venezuela pledges to promote BRICS-Latin America relation
“It is our desire to join the Council of Think Tanks of the BRICS to contribute with our modest experience to counteract the pernicious effects of Western sanctions against the economies of the world, and to dismantle the system of financial and commercial domination,” he said. “We also pledge before the BRICS leaders Venezuela’s responsibility to promote the political and economic relationship of the BRICS system with the principal mechanisms of coordination and cooperation of Latin America and the Caribbean. This includes the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America-People’s Trade Agreement [ALBA-TCP] and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States [CELAC] to move forward in the constitution of regional blocs, as we envisioned in the historic BRICS-UNASUR Summit of 2014.”
Venezuela proposes BRICS-Latin America media alliance
“The consolidation of these ambitious alliances requires a high level of awareness of the peoples about the realities, strengths and capabilities to move forward together,” the Venezuelan president stated. “To this end, we propose a media alliance through the re-launching of cooperation between TV BRICS and TeleSur, a Latin American and Caribbean multi-media and multi-state platform.”
BRICS’ inclusive vision integrates small and medium enterprises in global value chains
“BRICS was conceived with an inclusive vision and complementarity, and the multilateral system, with the reform of the World Trade Organization, has been placed at its core,” President Maduro highlighted, “thereby supporting the growth of micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises, and to integrate them into global value chains, and thus expand cooperation in the fields of the digital economy and green development, among other actions.”
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/SC/AU
Misión Verdad
Misión Verdad is a Venezuelan investigative journalism website with a socialist perspective in defense of the Bolivarian Revolution
