Bolivia received an invitation to become a BRICS partner country and responded positively, Celinda Sosa, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bolivia, said on the sidelines of the 29th session of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP-29) in Baku, Azerbaijan.
"We are truly very grateful to the president of fraternal Russia for supporting Bolivia's participation in BRICS. Today we received an invitation from the Russian foreign minister," she said.
The minister highlighted that BRICS is a "new alternative" that will benefit countries like Bolivia and others, emphasizing that "we will be able to strengthen mechanisms of multilateral cooperation, including with countries of the Global South." She further argued that past financing models "led to poverty, not to change and wealth."
Sosa sees BRICS as "an excellent alternative for the development and strengthening" of countries like Bolivia. She specifically welcomed Cuba's inclusion as a partner state, highlighting its "resistance to imperialism" and "survival of an unfair economic blockade." The minister believes this demonstrates "an integration vision, a multilateral vision" where all countries have opportunities.
"We, our countries, have wealth, we have wisdom, we have, above all, the protection of our independence in decision-making," she stated.
Sosa concluded that this aspiration was becoming reality thanks to the spirit of integration between the BRICS countries.