After Venezuela and Cuba, Bolivia might be the next country to entertain closer ties to Iran.
Iran is giving millions of dollars of aid to Bolivia, according to this article in McClatchy Newspapers.
The aid includes construction of a milk factory in Achacachi.
"Being in Bolivia will give Iran more pawns to play in its dealings with the Europeans and the United States," said Abbas Milani, co-director of the Iran Democracy Project at Stanford University's Hoover Institution.
According to the article, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez brought the two countries together, flying Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to visit Bolivian President Evo Morales in 2007.
Iran also is assisting Ecuador and Nicaragua, prompting U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates to address the issue in January in front of a Senate committee. "I'm concerned about the level of, frankly, subversive activity that the Iranians are carrying on in a number of places in Latin America, particularly South America and Central America," Gates said.
Source: McClatchy Newspapers
Photo: Infolatam, Morales and Ahmadinejad
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