MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Iranian president visits South America; US calls it “disturbing”

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has become a frequent visitor of Latam

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad begins this week a tour of South America visiting three countries, Brazil, Ecuador and Venezuela, reported Iranian Foreign Affairs minister Manouchehr Mottaki.

Last week United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Washington would try to reverse the “disturbing trend” of growing Chinese, Iranian and Russian influence in Latinamerica.

Mottaki who was in Brazil last March, said that President Ahmadinejad's visit to Brazil includes a delegation of 110 representatives from 65 Iranian companies hopeful to increase bilateral trade and investments.

In Washington last week Hillary Clinton was quoted stating that “If you look at the gains, particularly in Latin America, that Iran is making and China is making, it’s quite disturbing”.

In Ecuador the Iranian delegation will follow up on the agreements signed by both countries during the visit of President Rafael Correa to Teheran.

Finally in Venezuela, where trade, development, cooperation and political links are “extremely strong and fluid” President Ahmadinejad will review the long shared agenda with Venezuela (both are members of OPEC’s more radical wing) and establish a regional development bank.

The Iran-Venezuela bank opened offices last March in Teheran and a similar opening is scheduled for this week in Caracas.

Ms. Clinton explicitly blamed former US president George Bush for what she claimed as “Iran and China's gains” in the region”. The Bush administration policy of “isolating leaders who have led the opposition to US policies in Central and Latin America has failed and marginalised Washington's interests”, she said.

“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”.

“If you look at the gains, particularly in Latin America, that Iran is making, that China is making, it's quite disturbing,” the chief US diplomat said. “They're building very strong economic and political connections with a lot of these leaders. I don't think that it's in our interests,” Clinton said.

Mrs. Clinton also admitted Washington, which has also made overtures to the Castro dynasty in Cuba, was still exploring how to deal with Venezuelan president Chavez, Nicaraguan President Daniel Noriega, Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa and Bolivian President Evo Morales.

Earlier last month, the United States welcomed Venezuela's move to restore full diplomatic ties between the two countries -- broken in September -- by returning its ambassador to Washington.

President Obama has said he wants to see his gestures to Havana returned in the form of releasing political prisoners, expanding human rights and democratic reforms. Clinton acknowledged the United States stands alone in the region with its policy toward Cuba.

“Were facing an almost united front against the United States regarding Cuba”, she said. “Every country, even those with whom we are closest, is just saying, 'You've got to change, you can’t keep doing what you are doing”.