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Argentina's new leader unlikely to change stance against joining BRICS — expert

Patricio Giusto also believes that "Argentina will miss a great opportunity," refusing to join BRICS

BUENOS AIRES, November 21. /TASS/. The government of Argentina's president-elect, Javier Milei, will not change its stance against joining BRICS on January 1, according to Patricio Giusto, the director of the China-Argentina Observatory think tank.

"It is already clear that under the Milei government, Argentina will not join BRICS on January 1. His main allies from the Republican Proposal party support this stance. I don't see any chances they may change their mind," Guisto has told TASS.

The analyst believes that the refusal to join BRICS is a mistake.

"Argentina was invited to join a club of the world’s heavyweights. There are our two main trading partners - China and Brazil, there's India, Russia and five other countries that are in the process of joining the group. In fact, Argentina will miss a great opportunity," Guisto said.

On November 19, Argentina saw a presidential election runoff. Milei, who leads the Libertarian Party, affiliated with the right-wing Freedom Advances alliance, outperformed Economy Minister Sergio Massa.

He has repeatedly stated that he does not intend to develop interstate relations with Brazil, China and Russia because of his disagreement with the policies of these states. At the same time, he stated that he would not prevent private companies from doing business with these countries. He considers Israel and the US as Argentina's priority allies. Milei's foreign policy adviser Diana Mondino said in late October that the Freedom Advances alliance saw no point in Argentina's participation in BRICS, where the country was admitted following the group's August summit.

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