Latin America and the Caribbean in BRICS+ New Strategic Regionalism and the Geopolitics of Trade and Supply Chains

This article examines the recent integration of Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries into the BRICS+ framework as part of a broader geopolitical shift toward multipolarity. It analyzes BRICS+ through the lens of New Strategic Regionalism, the author’s own theoretical contribution to the study of regional transformations in the Global South, and focuses on trade deflection under sanctions, and the dynamics of inclusion and exclusion in BRICS+. The study uses a mixed-methods approach. Qualitative analysis of institutional sources is combined with quantitative trade data for Cuba, Bolivia, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. A case study of Venezuela is included, integrating trade microdata—Bill of Lading—to trace emerging supply chains and economic actors, and to examine Venezuela’s exclusion from BRICS+ and its subsequent geopolitical repositioning. Results show that BRICS+ functions as a space of strategic realignment for LAC countries seeking alternatives to Western-dominated trade and financial systems. Cuba and Bolivia were admitted as partners. Although excluded due to Brazil’s objections, Venezuela’s evolving ties with BRICS states reveal informal pathways of integration through South–South cooperation. This article contributes to four key research gaps: LAC in BRICS+; BRICS+ as new strategic regionalism; trade deflection under sanctions; use of trade microdata; and the geopolitics of supply chains. It challenges technocratic approaches by framing these geopolitical dynamics as anchored in contested global power shifts.