Venezuelan President, Nicolas Maduro, has vowed that his nation will not be silenced following Brazil’s veto of its attempt to join the BRICS group of emerging economies.
Tribune Online reports that Nigeria, alongside 12 other countries, recently joined the BRICS power bloc as partner countries.
Maduro’s statement on Saturday comes amid Venezuela’s struggle with a severe economic crisis, which the government blames on US sanctions.
The South American country has long expressed interest in becoming a member of BRICS, a bloc comprising nine official member states: Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E).
Brazil’s rejection of Venezuela’s bid occurred during a summit in the Russian city of Kazan earlier in the week, prompting a harsh response from Venezuela, which condemned the decision as both “hostile” and “immoral.”
Speaking on state television upon his return from Kazan, Maduro asserted, “No one will block or silence Venezuela, not today, not tomorrow, not ever,” without directly naming Brazil.
Tensions between Maduro and Brazilian President, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, once close allies, have grown since Maduro’s contested re-election on July 28, which the opposition claims to have won.
Lula’s advisor and former foreign minister, Celso Amorim, attributed the veto to a “breach of confidence” by Venezuela, explaining that Maduro had promised to release detailed election results but failed to do so.
The Venezuelan opposition insists the withheld results would confirm that Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia decisively defeated Maduro. Gonzalez, now in exile in Spain, fled after Venezuelan authorities issued an arrest warrant against him on what the opposition claims are fabricated charges.
Maduro, however, maintained that officials from nearly 30 countries at the Kazan summit had praised his “great electoral victory.”
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