The president of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel, met this Sunday with the vice president of the Workers’ Party (PT) of Brazil, Washington Quaquá, and about 300 Brazilians solidary with the island, in the framework of the XVII Summit of Heads of State and Government of the BRICS.

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Upon arriving in Rio de Janeiro, the host city, the president wrote on social media that he will “transmit Cuba’s message about how much we can contribute and how much we can rely on this hopeful mechanism of global integration, in defense of multilateralism.”

A statement from the Cuban Presidency highlighted the president’s meeting with the number two of the PT (in government), who is also the mayor of the municipality of Maricá and whom he considered “a great friend of Cuba.”

For his part, Quaquá told Díaz-Canel that Cuba “is much more than a brother, it is an inspiration.”

“Being on the side of the Revolution is being on the side of the main utopias that always moved us and cannot be abandoned,” the Brazilian emphasized.

This is the first time that Cuba has participated as a partner country in a BRICS meeting and the second time that Díaz-Canel has participated. He attended the bloc’s Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa (2023), then in his capacity as president of the Group of 77 and China.

The island ruler’s agenda includes speaking at two panels of the Rio Summit and also holding meetings with heads of different delegations from BRICS member and partner countries, as well as international organizations, according to the state agency Prensa Latina.

Cuba was approved under the status of associate to the BRICS in October 2024, during the Summit of that group in Kazan (Russia); a fact that was officialized in 2025, recalled the Foreign Ministry of the Caribbean country.

Under the motto “Strengthening cooperation in the Global South for a more inclusive and sustainable governance”, the agenda of the BRICS Summit comprises two central axes: Strengthening cooperation between countries of the global south and promoting reforms in international governance mechanisms.

Created in 2009 by Brazil, Russia, India and China, the group and international political and economic forum of emerging nations of the BRICS admitted South Africa two years later and since 2024 allowed the entry of six new full members: Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia, Iran, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia.

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