‘Cautious tone’
For BRICS leaders who do make the trip to the “cidade maravilhosa”, the marvelous city, the economy will be top of the agenda.
Lula on Friday defended the idea of finding an alternative to the dollar for trade among BRICS nations.
“I know it is complicated. There are political problems,” Lula said at a BRICS banking event. “But if we do not find a new formula, we are going to finish the 21st century the way we started the 20th.”
But with many, including China, locked in difficult trade negotiations with the United States, they may be wary of roiling the mercurial US president.
President Donald Trump has warned that starting Friday, countries will receive letters stating the amount their exports to the United States will be tariffed.
He has also threatened to impose 100 percent tariffs on countries that challenge the dollar’s international dominance.
“We’re anticipating a summit with a cautious tone: it will be difficult to mention the United States by name in the final declaration,” Marta Fernandez, director of the BRICS Policy Center at Rio’s Pontifical Catholic University, told AFP.
