Libertarian politician Javier Milei was elected President of Argentina on Sunday largely on the promise to shake up Argentina’s economy. His election not only marks an ongoing trend all over the world of countries entertaining far-right political leadership (though Milei’s economic agenda suggests more moderate stances to combat the ongoing crisis of devaluation affecting the Argentine peso), but signaled a potential political and trade shakeup with some of Argentina’s closest trade partners: Brazil and China, both of whom Milei had been critical of in the past. 

While Milei has not assumed office yet, his rhetoric has certainly positioned Argentina in opposition to any membership of a BRIC-led order. BRIC, or BRICS (the intergovernmental organization of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) is certainly a desirable monolith for its members. While Russia would urge for BRICS legitimacy against the ongoing war in Ukraine, for China it is less straightforward how Argentina’s shifting political leaning would impact their designs for the coalition or their own national prerogative. Nonetheless, for now, both Argentina and China have signaled no steep desire to alter the status quo.