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Ahmadinejad shores up support in Bolivia, Venezuela
(AP Juan Karita)
President Evo Morales, left, and Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad wave to supporters from a balcony at the presidential palace in La Paz, Thursday, Sept. 27, 2007.AFP
LA PAZ
Petroleumworld.com 09 28 07
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad headed to Caracas Thursday for talks with firebrand Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez in a mini-tour of Iran's anti-US allies that also took him to Bolivia.
He boarded a plane for Venezuela after talks in La Paz with Bolivian President Evo Morales during a five-hour visit to the South American country.
Chavez and fellow leftist Morales both support Iran's controversial nuclear program and, like Ahmadinejad, are virulent critics of the US administration.
The two South American nations have reached a number of trade and aid agreements with Iran, particularly in the energy sector.
In La Paz, Ahmadinejad and Morales signed a joint statement recognizing "the rights of developing nation to develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes," a position staunchly rejected by the United States.
The two also signed a number of bilateral agreements.
Morales' meeting with Ahmadinejad had raised eyebrows in Washington, and the US ambassador in La Paz expressed concerns over Bolivia's warming relations with Iran.
Bolivia, one of Latin America's poorest countries, recently re-established diplomatic ties with Iran, a country that is under UN-imposed sanctions for its refusal to heed ultimatums to suspend uranium enrichment.
In Venezuela, Chavez poked fun at critics of his strong ties with Ahmadinejad.
"They will say I am plotting with Iran to threaten the world, that we will build an atomic bomb," he said in a weekly televised address on Sunday.
Chavez insisted Ahmadinejad is a man "who respects international peace."
"The president, my friend Ahmadinejad, is an extraordinary human being, who believes in God and is very humble," the Venezuelan leader said.
The Iranian leader's trip to Venezuela, will be his third visit since he took office in 2005.
The two Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) members have signed accords over eight billion dollars, mainly in the oil and energy sectors.
When he visited Iran in July, Chavez set the foundation stone for a petrochemichal complex in Asaluyeh. A similar bilateral venture is planned in Venezuela.
The Iranian leader's mini-tour of South America follows his visit to New York, where he addressed the UN General Assembly and delivered a speech at Columbia University.
Ahmadinejad's New York visit drew vocal protests despite his efforts to tone down the controversy over his country's nuclear ambitions.
In his speech to the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, he insisted the controversy over Iran's nuclear ambitions "is closed as a political issue," and added it should be handled "within the legal framework" and under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
But he also slammed the "unlawful and political impositions" of the United States and its allies -- a reference to UN Security Council demands that it halt uranium enrichment.
AFP 27 2056 GMT 09 07
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