or would that be too alarmist?

that other nations will be able to get along much better, if the US govt/banking/military/crony capitalist cartel isn't involved.

The other nations might even reject the kind of Final Solution that is SOP for the US...

the US$ or the Euro for equivalent conversion for exchange rates without using those currencies same way as Cuba for example uses the US$ for conversion despite the fact its illegal for Cubans , outside of official governmental use, to even be in possession of a single US$.

It's a common cause of disputes. In fact the present case arose because of disagreement about that issue. But I agree they will most likely work something out, the present arrangements stifle development.

I had to read the following sentence several times to get the gist of it (it's an important point):

"Sharma commented that the weakened global demand of goods and services, above all from Western markets, is affecting export prospects and growth possibilities of member countries of the group." --from the OP (my underlining)

I think the word "from" threw me. Or maybe "of." ("...global demand of goods and services...&quot Or maybe "global" is the problem ("global demand" of/from "Western markets"??).

Then there is the phrase "Western markets." What exactly does this mean? The U.S., the U.K., Canada and "Old Europe" (France, Germany, Belgium, Holland, Italy, Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, etc.)?

Cuz Brazil (a member of BRICS) is in the West. (BRICS = Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.) Isn't Brazil part of the "Western world"? Does "Western markets" really mean "NORTH-western markets"?

Am I reading this correctly? The U.S. and other rich, allied countries (mostly Europe) are NOT buying things from BRICS countries in the global market (or are not buying as much) and thus BRICS countries are switching to their own currencies (and getting off the U.S. dollar) to foster trade among BRICS countries?

Let me take this one step further (if I have understood it correctly--and I think I have). BRICS countries are going off the U.S. dollar for trade among BRICS countries because of the Bush Junta's wreckage to the world economy (and possibly added to this, the Obama administration's failure to provide an adequate stimulus), with most of the wreckage occurring right here at home, in the U.S., and among our "western" allies.

I don't know about Russia, India, China and South Africa, but Latin America is doing pretty well--or rather, the countries with LEFTIST governments in LatAm are doing well (Brazil, Venezuela, Bolivia, Argentina, Ecuador, Uruguay, in particular) precisely because their leftist governments insulated them against the vast criminality of U.S.-based banksters and other entities (such as the IMF/World Bank) that the Bush Junta fostered and permitted. Starting with Venezuela, these LatAm countries began detaching themselves from U.S. policy about a half a decade ago and have actively and successfully provided their people with the "New Deal" that their voters voted for. When the Bush Junta-induced crash hit, they had already begun stimulating their economies with government spending to recover from IMF/World Bank-induced crashes and cruel "austerity." In other words, they got looted by the transglobal super-rich about a decade before we did--and this led to a big leftist democracy movement, in LatAm, that put "New Deal" governments in place before "the Northwestern World" got hit by the looters and plunderers that the Bush Junta unleashed.

It is due to the Corporate Press and--probably primarily due to Diebold--that Republicans have gotten away with this, and are not placed in stockades with rotten fruit thrown at them wherever they show their lying, looting, plundering, traitorous faces around the U.S.A. It is AMAZING to me that the Pukes get so much air time--FREE air time--to talk utter shit. THEY destroyed this country. They really, really did. With their wars and their multiple tax cuts for the rich and their deliberate malfeasance in every sphere, while transglobal corporations, war profiteers and the super-rich cleaned our clocks.

THEY--Republicans, the Bush Junta--did this to us--rendered us incapable of buying imports, pushing BRICS countries (and other countries) to seek solutions that will hurt us further.

Some of these solutions are long overdue and are certainly just. The countries with leftist governments in LatAm which have defied U.S. ("Wall Street"/Bankster) policy, for instance, are making huge inroads against poverty and are, at long last, insuring that LatAm's rich natural resources benefit the people who live there. Our profligate consumer society has been based on exploitation (of workers, of resources) in foreign lands (LatAm countries prime among them) and we are the number one contributor to global warming. (Some of these fast-developing countries are making the same mistake, sacrificing the environment to poverty reduction, on the industrial model--China, of course, in particular--but that is another problem, which I won't go into here. I am talking only about wealth distribution and social justice--in LatAm.)

In LatAm, it is a good thing that these countries have asserted their sovereignty and independence from the U.S. and are making decisions based on the welfare of their own people and the good of the region. LatAm has been ravaged by U.S. corporations and grossly interfered with, for too long. I'm more ambivalent about Russia and China, because they are not democratic (or are democratic in name only--Russia) and the wealth is sucked up to the top. They are making billionaires not justice. I would rather see the ascendance of LatAm as an economic block (through such new institutions as CELAC, which includes all LatAm countries) than see Brazil go its own way in this rather odd bloc (BRICS).

Brazil currently is doing both things and has thus far adhered to a "raise all boats" philosophy for the LatAm region, along with the original inspirer of this philosophy--Venezuela. The left has been in charge--and got re-elected--in Brazil. But it must surely tempt Brazil's rightwing to use the wealth and prosperity developed by leftist governments to start lording it over neighbor countries and throwing Brazil's weight around, if the right ever gains the power to do so. That potential exists. It would be a big mistake. Brazil is powerful not just because of its wealth, resources, population and land base, but also because it has worked in solidarity with other leftist countries in LatAm to implement common goals--regional independence, regionally-controlled financing, social justice, infrastructure development, general prosperity. Regional cooperation is as much a strength of Brazil as its wealth and size.

I really don't know what the relationship is between BRICS and CELAC. Maybe it's a positive one. LatAm countries have discussed a common currency (the "sucre&quot for LatAm (getting off the U.S. dollar). Perhaps there is no conflict. A number of LatAm countries have established bi-lateral trade agreements with Russia and China, for instance. BRICS' use of their own currencies may enhance or foster such agreements (rather than undermine them). I need more information. (Brazil has thus far not done anything to harm or undermine other LatAm countries--rather the opposite.)

the general level of demand in the west has weakened.

The original article would've been in Spanish. That's the "ingles" version from La Prensa - maybe its been mis-expressed in translation.