Johannesburg,South Africa

Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro is attending the BRICS Summit XVI in Kazan through an invitation from Russian President Vladimir Putin and will get an opportunity to mingle with BRICS leaders.

He landed on the Russian soil on Tuesday night and he is expected to be one guests to attend that summit which will run from 22-24 October 2024.

He will be rubbing shoulders with leaders such as Chinese President Xi Jinping,Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi,South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and Russian President Vladimir Putin,unfortunately Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is not attending the summit due health reasons.

He will get an opportunity to meet with leaders of new members of BRICS which joined last year during BRICS Summit in South Africa,countries such as Iran,Egypt,Ethiopia and United Arab Emirates are the part of the BRICS bloc.

He is confident that aligning his country with BRICS countries will be helpful in the long-run to navigate through US sanctions which are imposed against his people and government.

"We are at the XVI Summit of the BRICS to share experience,the historic struggle of Venezuela,the dreams and hopes of a world without colonialism,nor hegemonism,or imperialism,but of a world where emerging superpowers can share with the countries we aspire from the global south,to independence,development and prosperity,"said President Maduro.

He emphasised that BRICS is the epicenter of a new multipolar world,of new geopolitics,of diplomacy of peace and above all they are the hope for the southern countries,who aspire for development and who carry the flag of equality and freedom.

He revealed that his country is ready to be a part of the bloc and where his country would be not threaten with sanctions and will access free trade.

"We are prepared to form part of the new world of the BRICS,contributing from the Bolivian Venezuela in the construction of the multicenter and pluripolar world that is being born,having the possibility to access an economy that is not managed by the use of sanctions,blackmail and hegemony,but that its foundation in cooperation and a truly free trade,"he concluded.

He has been the President of Venezuela since 2013 after the death of President Hugo Chavez,under his presidency Venezuela has experienced poor standards of living and political instability.

He has been reelected three times as President of Venezuela starting from 2013 and he has survived numerous assassination attempts on his life which were orchestrated by foreign countries such as US.

Venezuela is one of the founders of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries(OPEC) and that country is rich oil and gas,however that natural resources are not benefiting the people of Venezuela due sanctions imposed by US government many years ago.