Ecuador’s vice president, who is in Tehran for talks on bilateral issues, has been officially welcomes by his Iranian counterpart.

Lenin Moreno arrived in the Iranian capital Friday night and is scheduled to meet with top Iranian officials.

In the official welcoming ceremony on Saturday, the national anthems of the two countries were played and Moreno and Mohammad-Reza Rahimi reviewed a guard of honor.

Talks on the construction of hydro-electrical plants as well as cooperation in the energy and oil sectors will be high on the agenda.

After his two-day visit to Iran, Moreno will fly to the UAE and Turkey as part of his tour of the region.

Iran enjoys growing relations with Latin American countries including Venezuela, Ecuador, Brazil and Bolivia.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki and Uruguay’s Minister of Industry Raul Sendic have discussed issues of mutual interests in Tehran.

The two discussed prospects of boosting industrial ties that would include manufacture of light and heavy machinery and construction of power plants.

Mottaki said that Iran is ready to provide the South American country with light and heavy machinery, as well as engineering services for construction of dams and power plants. Furthermore, he said Sendic’s visit could be a turning point in relations between the two countries.

The Uruguayan official, for his part, described Iran’s achievements in various fields as significant, saying the country’s development shows sanctions and international pressure against Iran have proven to be of no avail.

Sendic added that Iran and Uruguay have agreed “to set up special working groups aimed at identify new fields for cooperation.”

Upon taking office for the first time in 2005, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made efforts establish closer ties with Latin and South American countries including Venezuela, Cuba, Brazil, Bolivia and Uruguay.

Latin American presidents have organized a meeting to take a step to ‘break’ their dependence on US dollar in regional financial transactions.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said on Saturday that the leaders would meet Monday in Caracas.

“We’ll have a very important meeting of economy ministers from ALBA (Bolivian Alliance for the peoples of Americas) to further shape an extraordinary project” on a new currency, Chavez said.

The currency, the Sucre, will “break the dependency on the dollar, its economic and financial colonialism,” he added.

The Sucre was named after Jose Antonio de Sucre who fought for independence from Spain alongside Venezuelan hero Simon Bolivar in the early 19th century.

Leftist Latin American leaders agreed on using the new intra-regional trading currency in an October meeting of ALBA. The currency is expected to be rolled out early this year in a non-paper form.

Formed in 2004, ALBA is an alliance for regional integration between the countries of Latin America and Caribbean.

ALBA’s nine members include Venezuela, Bolivia, Cuba, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Honduras, Dominica, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Antigua and Barbuda.

Venezuela, Bolivia and Nicaragua say the US is using the international relief operation in Haiti as a cover-up for a military takeover.

Bolivian President Evo Morales said that he will request an emergency UN meeting to reject what he calls the US military occupation of Haiti.

“It’s not right that the United States should use this natural disaster to invade and militarily occupy Haiti,” Morales told a press conference on Wednesday.

“If you have all these problems with the injured and the dead from the earthquake, you have to go there to save lives, and you don’t do that from a military standpoint,” he added.

An outspoken critic of US policies, Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez also had accused Washington of occupying Haiti “under the guise of the natural disaster.”

Nicaragua also has taken a similar stance toward US with respect to the situation in Haiti.

The United States is deploying up to 20,000 troops to Haiti. US servicemen have taken control of the country’s international airport.

The Pentagon has sent one of its biggest aircraft carriers to Haiti, along with other navy and coast guard vessels.

On Friday, Arturo Valenzuela, the US assistant secretary of state for Western hemisphere affairs rejected that the US was occupying Haiti.

“Haiti is a sovereign country, everybody respects Haiti’s sovereign country, the United States respects Haiti’s sovereignty,” said Arturo Valenzuela.

Bolivia is planning to buy six Chinese military planes and ten Russian-built helicopters this year to aid the government’s fight against drug trafficking.

On Thursday, Defense Minister Walker San Miguel told local radio that the Chinese planes have a price tag of USD 58 million and will be ready for delivery in about 18 months.

Bolivia has worked out special financing arrangements with China to allow La Paz to purchase the aircraft, the minister said.

The announcement comes as Bolivia bolsters its drug enforcement capabilities after ejecting US drug enforcement agents from its territory.

The removal of the US agents has allowed the Bolivian government to focus on regional aspects of the anti-drug fight, San Miguel told local radio.

San Miguel said the Bolivian government was also seeking congressional approval to purchase the 10 cargo helicopters for use by the police.

Bolivian President Evo Morales ordered the US Drug Enforcement Administration in November 2008 to leave, after accusing it of being involved in political unrest and drug-trafficking in the country.

Bolivian President Evo Morales has strongly criticized his American counterpart for failing to change Washington’s policy towards Bolivia.

“When I was informed that Obama had won the elections I said: a black man isn’t going to exclude an Indian, but it turned out to be the opposite,” Morales said on Thursday.

“That is why I say that the only thing that has changed in the United States is the color of the president. I regret that a lot,” he added.

His comments came after US President Barack Obama excluded Bolivia from special trade benefits for a second consecutive year.

The US leader signed into law an agreement that grants most goods from 131 countries duty-free status for entry into the US.

Morales also noted that his country does not need Washington and prefers cooperating with allies across the world such as Iran and South Africa.

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman has reacted to recent remarks by the US Secretary of State regarding Tehran’s ties with Latin American countries.

Hillary Clinton on Friday alluded to Iran’s business partners in Latin America, including Brazil, Venezuela and Bolivia, warning them of consequences of bolstering ties with Iran.

“We can only say that is a really bad idea for the countries involved,” said the former first lady. “If people want to flirt with Iran, they should take a look at what the consequences might well be for them. And we hope that they will think twice,” she said during a question-and-answer session at the State Department.

In his weekly press conference on Tuesday, Mehman-Parast said the comments infringed accepted diplomatic norms regarding the relations between the countries.

“I think it’s evident enough that such comments are in contravention of diplomatic norms,” he said, adding that the best evidence was the reaction of those countries in the ALBA conference, which “unanimously rejected and condemned such comments.”

In response to Clinton’s remarks, the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas, a regional trade group known as ALBA, promised closer ties with Iran.

The leaders of ALBA, an alliance for regional integration between the countries of Latin America and Caribbean, pledged to further develop ties with Iran and denounced the US stance toward the Islamic Republic.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said the oft-states remarks were “ridiculous.”

“It’s ridiculous, the threat of the secretary of state, and we aren’t afraid of her,” Chavez said.

Bolivian President Evo Morales also said that his country would not back down from holding closer relations with Iran.

This is not the first time that the US has expressed dismay over Iran’s soaring popularity in Latin America, which it regards as its “strategic backyard.”

Earlier in May, Clinton said that the US was “disturbed” by Iran’s “gains” in the Latin America region.

Other than Venezuela and Bolivia, the Islamic Republic of Iran enjoys growing relations with other Latin American countries namely Brazil and Ecuador.

In his very recent visit to Latin America in November, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad traveled to Brazil, Bolivia and Venezuela, where he signed several cooperation agreements and memoranda of understanding with South American leaders on joint ventures.

Nuclear issue

On supply of fuel for Tehran’s reactor, the spokesman said Iran has already given its views on the issue, reiterating that the swap would be possible if Iran’s “conditions are taken into consideration.”

Iran has offered to exchange an amount of 1,200 kilograms of its enriched uranium – in three batches of 400 kilograms – for the equivalent of higher-enriched uranium on the Persian Gulf island of Kish.

While the West is yet to give an official response to the proposal, a US official, who requested anonymity, rejected the proposal, saying, “Iran’s proposal does not appear to be consistent with the fair and balanced draft agreement proposed by the International Atomic Energy Agency [IAEA].”

In his press briefing, Mehman-Parast also appreciated Turkey’s support for Iran’s nuclear rights, which he said could set an example for other countries that hold friendly ties with Iran.

“The more our friends try to make the other side understand our rights, this is positive and we hope it would be effective.”

Turkey has on several occasions defended Iran’s nuclear program, dismissing sanctions as a proper solution to the issue.

After US secretary of state expressed concern over consequences of Iran’s close ties with Latin American countries, Venezuela condemns Hillary Clinton’s remarks as an “imperial offensive.”

“Mrs Clinton’s statements (are) like a threat above all against Venezuela and Bolivia… They are the clear signs of an imperial offensive seeking to stop the advancement of progressive forces, and regain its back yard,” Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, the most outspoken US critic in Latin America, told reporters in Havana.

“It’s an overt threat. Her declarations are like a threat, especially at Venezuela and Bolivia,” he added.

Chavez, who was speaking at an ALBA summit, said that Clinton’s words were a clear sign that the US is seeking to stop the advancement of progressive nations.

In a veiled reference to Iran’s business partners in Latin America, including Brazil, Venezuela and Bolivia, Clinton on Friday warned that having close ties with Iran would have inevitable consequences.

“We can only say that is a really bad idea for the countries involved,” said the former first lady. “If people want to flirt with Iran, they should take a look at what the consequences might well be for them. And we hope that they will think twice,” she said during a question-and-answer session at the State Department.

In a sign of Iran’s close relations with Latin American states, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad went on several official trips to such countries, including Brazil, Bolivia and Venezuela in November.

During his visits, Ahmadinejad signed a number of agreements with Latin American leaders to launch joint projects.

Obama letter

US president Barack Obama whose country has already had tense relationships with Brazil over a number of issues including US military presence in Colombia wrote a letter to Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on 24 November reiterating US position over Iran’s nuclear program and indirectly expressing his discontent with President Ahmadinejad’s trip.

A day after receiving the letter, the Brazilian president once again defended Tehran’s right to develop its nuclear technology just as Brasilia has been doing, The New York Times reported.

US interference in LatAm affairs

This is while Washington’s long-standing interference in Latin America has had far greater consequences.

The Brazilian president recently called on the US to develop fresh ties based on a “vision of partnership and not interference, of contribution and not intervention” with Latin American countries.

The United States, discontent with the rise of socialist and leftist governments in its so-called strategic backyard, has a long history of interference in Latin American affairs.

In 1954, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) organized a covert intervention to oust the democratically-elected Guatemalan President Jacobo Arbenz Guzman.

Seven years later CIA planned, financed and executed an assault on Cuba known as The Bay of Pigs Invasion, designed to overthrow the government of Fidel Castro.

More than 20,000 American troops, meanwhile, landed in Dominican Republic in 1965 to sabotage the National Liberation Movements.

The CIA also orchestrated the 1973 Chilean coup d’?tat, in which the government of President Salvador Allende was overthrown. General Augusto Pinochet assumed power and established a military government that ruled until 1990.

Latin American allies Venezuela and Cuba have strengthened their relations by signing cooperation agreements worth of 3.2 billion dollars.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and his Cuban counterpart Raul Castro on Saturday signed some 285 cooperation agreements that will go into effect in 2010.

Chavez, who arrived in Cuba on Friday, said that the nations began increasing cooperation in 2000 with 17 modest projects worth some $30 million.

“This is a mechanism of cooperation, which has no other precedents in the world. It is unbelievable in the way it has been forged over the last 10 years,” the president added.

Meanwhile, President Castro said that Venezuela would remain the primary trade partner for Cuba.

Trade between Caracas and Havana has reached $8.7 billion, mainly in the health, education, agriculture and energy sectors.

The two presidents on Sunday will attend a summit of the ALBA, a leftist bloc Chavez founded in 2004 as a counterweight to the US-sponsored Free Trade Area of the Americas.

ALBA’s nine members include Venezuela, Bolivia, Cuba, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Honduras, Dominica, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Antigua and Barbuda.

As Iran increases its presence in US backyard, the US secretary of states warns Latin American nations about the consequences of the move.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad went on several official trips to Latin American countries, including Brazil, Bolivia and Venezuela in November.

During his visits, Ahmadinejad signed a number of agreements with Latin American leader to launch joint projects and thus increase Iran’s presence in the region.

Pointing to the recent upsurge in relations, Hillary Clinton said on Friday that “we can only say that is a really bad idea for the countries involved,” warning Bolivia and Venezuela in particular.

Clinton went on to accuse Iran of being “the major supporter, promoter and exporter of terrorism in the world.”

While Iran has always stated its opposition to extremism, Washington is accused of funding and supporting terrorist groups such as the Taliban in Afghanistan.

“In the 1980s, the administration former US president Ronald Reagan delivered several hundred shoulder-fired Stingers to Afghan resistance groups, including the Taliban,” The New York Times reported.

Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari also confirmed in a May 7 interview with the NBC that “the ISI and CIA created them (the Taliban) together.”

The US secretary of state, however, went on to warn that “if people want to flirt with Iran, they should take a look at what the consequences might well be for them. And we hope that they will think twice.”

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has congratulated Bolivian President Evo Morales for his landslide reelection victory as the two countries enjoy amicable relations.

“I believe that your victory will strengthen friendly bonds between justice-seeking nations and promote equality, independence, freedom and kindness,” said President Ahmadinejad in a message to his Bolivian counterpart on Tuesday.

“It will also remind arrogant systems about the fact that wise nations follow justice-based spirituality and that the future belongs to nations like ours,” he added.

The Iranian president expressed hope that his Bolivian counterpart would take steps towards his country’s progress and improvement of cordial relations between Tehran and La Paz.

Iran’s relations with Bolivia have greatly improved during Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s government. Ahmadinejad and his Bolivian counterpart Evo Morales have exchanged state visits.

Iran pledged in August, 2007 to invest 1.1 billion euros in Bolivian agriculture, industry, energy and humanitarian affairs. Iran has sold Bolivia tractors made in Venezuela, built dairy factories and offered to help finance a cement plant.

The growing ties between Iran and Latin American countries, including, Brazil, Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua and Bolivia, have raised concerns in Washington, which has been trying to isolate Tehran over its nuclear activities.

Bolivia’s first indigenous president Evo Morales has claimed a landslide re-election victory in the country’s presidential poll.

According to the latest vote countes, Morales has ‘easily’ won a second term in office. The victory could mean that his social reforms has proved palpable to the Bolivian middle class.

The latest vote counts from the country’s Sunday presidential election indicates that the left-wing Bolivian leader has secured himself a second tenure by claiming around 63 percent of the vote, Bolivia’s independent television channels reported.

The leftist president has introduced wide-ranging measures from redistribution of wealth and lands to establishment of indigenous universities in the South American state. The leftist president has promised deeper reforms and a greater role for the state in the economy during his second five-year term in office.

His leftist agenda, though, has been met with fierce criticism from the mostly European descendent Bolivians in the east especially in Santa Cruz province, who used to control much of the country’s riches including oil, natural gas and vast lithium repertoires.

In Sunday’s vote, Bolivian middle class threw their weight behind Morales who enjoyed support of the nation’s large indigenous population in 2005 election.

Morales has his main rival, rightist former governor Manfred Reyes Villa trailing far behind with about 35 percent of the votes.

Meanwhile, exit polls indicate that his party has also won a two-thirds majority in Senate.

The official final result has yet to be announced.

Polls have opened in Bolivia’s general elections with incumbent President Evo Morales likely to win a second five-year term.

Balloting began at 8 a.m. (1200 GMT) amid tight security measures and was expected to continue for eight hours.

The government has banned carrying firearms during the voting, while more than 55,000 troops and police were on duty throughout the country to provide security.

Morales, an Aymara Indian, enjoys overwhelming support from Bolivia’s indigenous majority who account for some 65 percent of the population.

Opinion polls gave Morales more than 50 percent of ballots — a wide lead over his main challengers Manfred Reyes Villa, a former governor, and Samuel Doria Medina, a wealthy businessman.

Morales, who first swept into office in 2005, was allowed to seek a second term through a referendum earlier this year.

Four years after taking office, Evo Morales, Bolivia’s first president of indigenous descent, appears poised for re-election with a first-round majority, according to several polls.

A year ago, Bolivia seemed haunted by the ghosts of civil war, with deep divisions between east and west, town and country, and between Morales’ supporters and opponents.

Ahead of Sunday’s general election, however, little remains of last year’s political hostility.

Opinion polls by three different organizations show the left-wing populist Morales with at least 52 percent support, a lead of 34 percentage points or more over his closest rival, right-wing candidate Manfred Reyes Villa.

If those numbers are repeated at the ballot box, Morales, 50, will be re-elected to a five-year term.

The opposition has been campaigning more to prevent an absolute majority for Morales’ Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) in the Senate, because the party is all but assured of a majority in the lower house of Congress.

Observers from the United Nations, the Organization of American States, the European Union, and other international bodies will be on hand Sunday to monitor the elections.

An estimated 52,000 military and police forces are to be deployed to guarantee voter safety.

The Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, says his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has plans to visit Iran in future.

President Ahmadinejad made the remarks after returning home from a five-day tour which took him to five African and South American countries including Brazil.

Describing the whole tour as successful, the Iranian President added that “We had great talks with Brazilian officials. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is scheduled to visit Iran.”

“The development of ties between Iran and Brazil will influence our relations with Latin America,” he explained.

The Iranian chief executive began his tour of Gambia, Brazil, Bolivia, Venezuela and Senegal on Sunday, just days after Israeli president Shimon Peres completed a tour to Latin America aimed at rallying support against Tehran.

However, the Israeli president’s visit to Brazil and Argentina, home to the largest Jewish communities, led to angry demonstrations against the trip in both Latin American countries.

Iran’s close ties with Latin America and particularly Brazil are a cause of major concern both to Israel and its staunch ally, the US.

Ahmadinejad’s visit to Latin American and African countries comes also as Washington moves to prepare a new slate of sanctions against Iran over the country’s nuclear issue.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has thrown his weight behind Iran’s efforts to develop a nuclear program aimed at peaceful purposes in September’s UN gathering in New York.

During his stay in Brazil, Peres also met with the Brazilian Defense Minister Nelson Jobim who is considered to be one of the strongest men in the Brazilian government.

However, the Israeli leader’s efforts to overshadow Ahmadinejad’s upcoming visit seemed to be in vain as Jobim later asserted that Brazilian authorities would hold talks with whomever they pleased.

Jobim said that no one had the right to dictate to Brazil who to talk to or not, pointing out that the decision was entirely up to the Brazilian government.

Ahmadinejad was greeted by First Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi, foreign policy adviser to Iran’s Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, Ali-Akbar Velayati, and several ministers and members of Parliament upon his arrival in Tehran on Friday morning.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has arrived in Caracas on the fourth leg of his official visit to Latin American and African countries.

Ahmadinejad will attend an official welcome ceremony with his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chavez on Wednesday.

The Iranian and Venezuelan presidents, two outspoken critics of Washington and Tel Aviv policies, will hold talks aimed at enhancing bilateral cooperation.

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro welcomed Ahmadinejad at Simon Bolivar airport in Caracas.

“We have a solid foundation, a solid base that we have created over this decade in our relationship, and it shows how false are the attacks of the world empire,” Maduro said Monday.

Before arriving in the Venezuelan capital, the Iranian president paid visits to Gambia, Brazil and Bolivia.

Iran and Venezuela maintain friendly ties in various areas including economic, trading, energy and industrial fields.

Other than Venezuela, the Islamic Republic of Iran enjoys growing relations with other Latin American countries namely Brazil, Bolivia and Ecuador.

Ahmadinejad’s visit to Latin American and African countries comes as Washington moves to prepare a new slate of sanctions against Iran over the country’s nuclear issue.

Negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program led to a major breakthrough when the UN nuclear watchdog proposed that Iran should send most of its domestically produced low-enriched uranium (LEU) abroad in exchange for metal fuel rods for its Tehran medical research reactor.

Iran has officially announced that it will accept the basics of the proposal but has sought certain modifications to the offer, saying the country’s enriched uranium supply will not be sent out of its borders due to the lack of confidence in the West.

The Islamic Republic says a guaranteed supply of fuel for the Tehran research reactor is the country’s major concern.

Iran says as both sides of the deal have their stockpiles ready, there is no problem with the simultaneous exchange of Tehran’s LEU with the 20 percent-enriched uranium inside the Iranian territory.

Iran has signed a deal with Bolivia to help the Andean nation do research on exploiting lithium in Salar de Uyuni desert.

Bolivian President Evo Morales and his visiting Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad signed a number of agreements to deepen ties.

After signing the agreements in La Paz, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that the deals were part of his country’s efforts to boost cooperation with Bolivia.

Bolivia possesses the world’s largest lithium reserves — a lightweight metal used in electric cars and other batteries.

Iranian experts, Brazil’s Ministry of Science and researchers from companies such as France’s Eramet SA and Bollore SA will hold a joint study on the lithium reserves.

Iran will also build blood dialysis centers in the cities of El Alto and Cochabamba with an estimated cost of $1 million.

During his short visit to Bolivia, Ahmadinejad inaugurated a hospital and a milk processing plant financed by Iran.

“Although there’s a large geographical distance between our countries, I want to assure you that our hearts, our thoughts and our ideals are very close,” Ahmadinejad said.

Ahmadinejad said that Iran’s National Oil Company is scheduled to open an office in La Paz to increase Tehran’s presence in the Bolivian oil and gas industry.

Ahmadinejad, who started a five-nation tour on Sunday, left Bolivia on Tuesday afternoon for Venezuela to meet with President Hugo Chavez.

Iran and Brazil signed eight cooperation deals in Brasilia on Monday after talks between Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

On the second leg of his five-nation tour of South America and Africa, Ahmadinejad arrived in Brazil on Monday with the goal of strengthening ties between the two countries.

The new deals will pave the way for Iran and Brazil to enhance their cooperation in the areas of commerce, energy, and agricultural research and to lift the visa regime between the two countries.

After Ahmadinejad’s arrival, the Brazilian president expressed support for Iran’s right to access peaceful nuclear energy and called for a “just solution” to be found in the dispute between Iran and the West over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program.

Lula stated that Brazil backed Iran’s plans to make use of “peaceful nuclear energy, in full respect of international accords.”

He also advised Iran to “continue contacts with interested countries to find a just solution to the nuclear issue.”

Brazil has repeatedly voiced its support for Iran’s nuclear program and has always opposed calls to impose sanctions on the country.

Ahmadinejad was in Gambia on Sunday.

After his one-day visit to Brazil, the Iranian president will travel to Venezuela, Bolivia, and Senegal.

Iran’s President is scheduled to begin his tour to five countries in Africa and South America on Sunday days after the Israeli president ended a tour aimed at rallying support against Tehran.

“Iranian President (Mahmoud Ahmadinejad) will visit Brazil, Bolivia, Venezuela, Senegal and Gambia,” IRINN reported on Sunday.

“Ahmadinejad is slated to visit Gambia in the first leg of his five-day trip,” it added.

He will then visit Brazil on the second day. Bolivia, Venezuela and Senegal will be the next targets.

Ahmadinejad’s tour is aimed at boosting political and economic ties with the five African and South American countries.

Israeli President Shimon Peres’s week-long visit to Brazil and Argentina, the first trip to the countries after 40 and 20 years respectively, comes amid Iran’s amicable relationship with Latin American countries.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has thrown his weight behind Iran’s efforts to develop a nuclear program aimed at peaceful purposes in September’s UN gathering in New York.

Iran’s close ties with Latin America and particularly Brazil, the fifth largest country, has been a cause of major concern both for Israel and its staunch ally, the US.

A day after Iran’s ambassador to Brazil announced that Ahmadinejad and a large entourage of 110 representatives from 65 companies were to visit Brasilia early May 2009, US Secretary of State dubbed the development as “quite disturbing.”

Blaming US President Barack Obama’s predecessor for “Iran gains” in the region, the top US diplomat noted “I don’t think in today’s world, where it’s a multi-polar world, where we are competing for attention and relationships with the Russians, the Chinese, the Iranians, that it’s in our interest to turn our backs on our own hemisphere.”

The Israeli president’s visit to the two Latin American countries, home to the largest Jewish community in the region, also led to angry demonstrations against the trip.

Demonstrators denounced Tel Aviv’s deadly offensive against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip which killed more than 1400 people, a large number of them women and children.

In Argentina, protestors carried placards which read “Get out of Argentina, murderer Shimon Peres”, “Death to Zionist-fascist Israel, officer of American imperialism in the Middle East, murderers of the Palestinian people!”.

In Sao Paulo, Brazil, the Israeli President had been hailed as “Shimon Hitler”, during protests. Demonstrators carried placards showing Peres, sporting a short Hitlerian mustache standing next to an Israeli flag upon which a swastika had been drawn.

Russia for the first time has opened an embassy in Paraguay, underscoring its growing presence throughout Latin America.

“With the exception of Suriname, Paraguay is the only South American country where we did not have an embassy. Now we have corrected this historical injustice,” said Russia’s new ambassador Igor Ezhov, one day after the taking office.

He said Moscow hoped to stoke bilateral and regional trade relations, including the areas of defense and energy.

Moscow has recently signed a series of trade and energy deals in the region with leftist nations that tend to oppose US policies, including Venezuela, Ecuador and Bolivia.