Argentina’s Milei Formally Declines to Join China-Led BRICS Alliance

But his government still aims to ‘intensify bilateral trade’ and boost ’trade and investment flows.’

President of Argentina Javier Milei gives a speech after his Inauguration Ceremony at "Casa Rosada" Presidential Palace in Buenos Aires, Argentina on Dec. 10, 2023. Marcos Brindicci/Getty Images

Javier Milei, Argentina’s newly elected president, wrote letters to the leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa (BRICS), formalizing his decision that the country would not join the economic alliance.

The letter, dated Dec. 22 and released by Argentina’s government on Dec. 30, stated that it was “not considered appropriate at this time” for Buenos Aires to become a full member of the organization comprised of major emerging markets.

Mr. Milei, 53, noted that his foreign policy “differs in many aspects from that of the previous government.”

“In this sense, some decisions made by the previous administration will be reviewed,” he said.

The letter proposed to “intensify bilateral ties” and bolster “trade and investment flows,” adding that he is prepared to hold meetings with each of the BRICS leaders.

During the campaign trail and following the election, the libertarian economist frequently championed alignment with the “free nations of the West,” including the United States and Israel. He also vowed that his government was “not going to ally with communists.”

However, Mr. Milei and his cabinet have adopted a friendlier tone with China and Brazil, two of the nation’s largest trading partners.

At the August BRICS summit, the bloc announced that it was inviting Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to join the coalition as part of efforts to curb Western hegemony on the world stage. Membership was scheduled to take effect as of Jan. 1, 2024.

Former Argentine President Alberto Fernandez called the BRICS invite a “great opportunity” for the nation’s economy as it would establish a “new scenario” for a country enduring a currency and inflationary crisis.

“We open up possibilities of joining new markets, of consolidating existing markets, of raising investment coming in, of creating jobs and raising imports,” he stated this past summer.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva argued that it was “very important for Argentina to be in BRICS,” mainly because of the “suffocating” International Monetary Fund (IMF) loans. Argentina presently owes the global institution approximately $43 billion.

However, shortly after his electoral victory, Mr. Milei held a virtual meeting with IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva. Both individuals struck a conciliatory tone and iterated “cooperation to fund the structural solutions that Argentina needs.”

With Reforms Come Protests

Weeks after being sworn in as president, Mr. Milei has implemented a series of reforms to transform the Argentine economy that he calls a form of “shock therapy.”

In a Dec. 20 speech flanked by his cabinet, Mr. Milei proposed more than 300 reforms to shrink the size of the government.

Some of these proposals consist of eliminating many labor laws, abolishing price controls, removing automatic pension increases, lowering price caps for private health services, and terminating thousands of civil service contracts. His government has already laid off thousands of government workers, announced massive budget cuts, and introduced a 54 percent peso devaluation.

Mr. Milei, a self-described anarcho-capitalist, is also looking to liberalize domestic oil markets and abolish government intervention in the country’s shale-rich energy industry.

This is all part of the government’s broader efforts to rein in inflation and curb poverty.

Over the last week, thousands of people have taken to the streets to protest Mr. Milei’s policies. The protesters, which included activists and union workers, reportedly chanted, “The country is not for sale!”

“We do not question the president’s legitimacy, but we want a president who respects the division of powers, who understands that workers have the need to defend themselves individually and within the framework of justice when there is unconstitutionality,” said Gerardo Martínez, general secretary of Argentina’s construction workers’ union, in a statement.

Meanwhile, it is unclear when Mr. Milei will implement two of the biggest campaign promises: eradicating the central bank and transitioning to the U.S. dollar.

Women walk past an image of $100 notes in Buenos Aires on Aug. 14, 2023, a day after primary elections in Argentina. Luis Robayo/AFP via Getty Images

Paris Agreement

Many of Mr. Milei’s supporters—at home and abroad—were surprised when Argentina committed to the Paris Agreement on climate change, claiming that this was an about-face by the new president based on his past comments.

Marcia Levaggi, the country’s new top climate diplomat, announced at the United Nations COP28 climate event in Dubai that the South American nation “will honor all our environmental agreements.

“This is why I came to this COP, to reassure our party stakeholders and people following the process that Argentina will stay committed to the Paris Agreement,” she said.

Mr. Milei has been highly critical of climate scientists and activists, calling the issue of climate change a “socialist lie.”

“All these politicians who blame the human race for climate change are fake and are only looking to raise money to finance socialist bums who write fourth-rate newspapers,” he said in November.

In a television interview, Mr. Milei alluded to the many times ecologists have been wrong about climate change over the last 50 years.

“They have a very poor track record,” he said on a local news program.