Addressing the Friends of BRICS Foreign Ministers meeting, the diplomat stressed that this historic demand unites the G77 and the BRICS Group.

The current order, created from colonialism, is based on rules, institutions, trade, and financial systems that tend to perpetuate the benefits of the former colonial powers and limit the opportunities for the rest of the nations, Peñalver Portal argued.

He added that its tendency is to foster the current conditions of economic crisis, with effects on developing countries, whose opportunities for recovery and progress are increasingly out of reach.

The BRICS countries can and should significantly contribute to the necessary reform of the current international financial system, which is profoundly unjust, anti-democratic, speculative, and exclusive, the diplomat stated.

In his speech, Peñalver Portal stressed the initiative of the BRICS countries to create a broad-based foreign exchange reserve mechanism to guarantee security and stability to the South and establish mutual credit lines in local currencies.

The G77 and the BRICS Group are committed to using science, technology, and innovation as engines of sustainable development, he noted.

Cuba has called for a Summit of heads of State and Government of the G77 plus China this year to address the current challenges for development and the role of science, technology, and innovation in that context, which will take place in Havana on September 15 and 16.

Cuba is attending the Friends of BRICS Foreign Ministers meeting as President of the Group of 77 (G77) plus China, “the largest and most diverse group of developing countries at a time of monumental challenges for our countries”, Peñalver Portal added in his speech.

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