Start with a bang BRICS forum di Johannesburg, in the presence of all the leaders of the now former emerging countries, with the exception of Russian President Vladimir Putin who has mandated Sergey Lavrov, but with the participation on the other hand of many "suspicious" guests, that is African countries and not only that, let's say States of the “South of the world”, ready to be integrated in the forum under strong pressure from China and Russiansa, with the clear aim of creating a new global axisand to be contrasted withWest and the G7.
BRICS: how it is made up and who it would like to let in
These days in South Africa there is in fact discussion of joining the acronym Brics, which today includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, from other strategic countries for various reasons: Egypt and Ethiopia to give more weight to Africa, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to include the Middle East area, increasingly rich and influential, Iran and Cuba for obvious reasons of geopolitical alignment, all while the American president Joe Biden has just strengthened the US presence in the Asia-Pacific area by signing an agreement with Japan and South Korea, and in September he will close an agreement also with the Vietnam.
Lula's proposal: Argentina and Brazil could use the yuan
He also participates in this new Cold War risk Argentina, also among the candidate countries to join the BRICS in this case by the will of the neighbour Brazil: the two South American countries have a historic and strong commercial partnership, as well as an increasingly intense bond with the China, to which they both export raw materials, especially soybeans. Precisely in this regard the Brazilian president Squid launched the first bombshell through his podcast channel: “We are considering using lo yuan instead of the dollar".
Il reason is clear: after the failed attempts to create a common and exclusive currency for trade between the two countries, Lula would like lend a hand to Argentina (still briefly governed by his friend Alberto Fernandez) and above all to protect businesses Brazilian exporters by replacing the dollar, which is increasingly expensive and inaccessible in Buenos Aires, with the currency of Beijing, which, moreover, many Argentine companies are already using to get paid for exported products and above all to pay for imports.
But Argentina, caught between the peak dollar and the arrival of the elections, preaches dollarization
The Johannesburg summit and Lula's latest gimmick also come in the midst of a crisis, the Argentine one, not only financial, with the dollar at an all-time high and inflation now well above 100% on an annual basis, but also political, with the recent primary elections (which in Argentina are mandatory and therefore highly attended) which saw the surprise affirmation of far-right candidate Javier Milei, who is now running as the favorite for the presidential elections on 22 October. And what instead preaches dollarization total economy, refusing any kind of privileged relationship with Beijing, contrary to what Brazil and the other BRICS hope.