MOSCOW, November 14. /TASS/. Bolivia has received an invitation to become a BRICS partner state, Foreign Minister Celinda Sosa told TASS.
"We are really very grateful to the president of brotherly Russia for supporting Bolivia's participation in BRICS. Today we received an invitation from the Russian foreign minister. We were invited to join BRICS as a partner state. We have responded positively to this invitation," she said on the sidelines of the 29th UN Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC COP 29) in Baku.
The top diplomat emphasized that "BRICS is a new alternative that will be able to help first of all countries like Bolivia, but also many others." "In this format, we will be able to strengthen multilateral cooperation mechanisms, including with countries of the Global South. In the past, many countries have been dependent on funds that were provided under strict conditions. This has led to poverty rather than change and prosperity," she added.
According to the Bolivian foreign minister, BRICS is "an excellent alternative for the development and strengthening of countries like Bolivia" and others. "So I am very happy that Cuba, a country that has really resisted imperialism, a country that has really survived an unfair economic blockade, has been accepted as a BRICS partner state," Sosa said. "This shows that there is a vision of integration, a multilateral vision where all countries have this opportunity," she pointed out.
"We, our countries, we have wealth, we have wisdom, we have, above all, the defense of our autonomy in decision-making. Thus, this aspiration is becoming a reality thanks to the spirit of integration among the BRICS countries," the top Bolivian diplomat concluded.
In October, Kazan hosted the 16th BRICS Summit, which was the key event of Russia's chairmanship in the association.