BRICS makes more than a numerical leap

By Roberto Morejón

In the midst of Western impediments for the world to move towards a new order, the fifteenth meeting of the BRICS group in Johannesburg took an important step towards that goal, whose support is to take into account the interests of the largest number of States.

The grouping made a pronounced geopolitical leap by expanding, in a marked questioning of the unipolarity marked by the United States, although it is not intended as a confrontation.

But the BRICS made progress in the construction of a multilateral space, in financial and commercial terms, based on a trend towards the use of their own currencies and the consequent reduction in the use of the dollar, Washington's favorite weapon to impose policies and sanctions.  

If the founding group of BRICS was already moving in this direction, it will now be possible to do so at a faster pace, with the addition of Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia and Argentina.

The collective of emerging economies is growing in the context of a financial system in distress, with the decline of the United States and in defiance of the unilateral system designed by the Group of 7 most developed countries.

Together, the 11 BRICS nations have a population of close to 3.7 billion people, play a preponderant role in the energy sector and represent more than 35 percent of the planet's Gross Domestic Product.

These are not mere statistics, but an economic and geopolitical weight into which the demands of the global South, hitherto ignored by the major centers of power, can be inserted.

As the President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, pointed out, the BRICS have begun a new chapter in their efforts to build a just, inclusive and prosperous world.

From that just perspective, a call for reforms of the UN Security Council, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank is to be expected.We are talking about accumulated aspirations in the global South, hence the manifest interest of dozens of countries to join the bloc.

In assessing the scope of the summit in Johannesburg, it is important to note the opinion of Brazil's President, Luis Inacio Lula Da Silva, who described as historic this moment for humanity in which countries of the South can for the first time assert their strength.