MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Bolivia asked Putin for Moscow to return “strongly” to Latinamerica

Evo Morales and Vladimir Putin last week in Caracas (EFE)

Bolivian President Evo Morales revealed that he asked Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to have Moscow return “strongly” to Latin America in the meeting that the pair held in Caracas last Friday.

Morales made the confirmation on Sunday after casting his vote in the regional and municipal elections in Villa 14 de Septiembre, located in the Chapare region in central Cochabamba province, the president’s political bastion.

“Relations with Russia have always been good. I asked in this meeting with the Russian prime minister for there to be a greater Russian presence in Latin America, for Russia to return strongly to Latin America,” Morales told reporters.

The president said that he asked Putin for a “re-launching” of bilateral relations with Bolivia in the diplomatic, commercial, investment and cooperation spheres.

Within that framework, he said that a delegation of Bolivian ministers will travel to Moscow from April 25-28 to begin negotiations about future Russian investment in Bolivia in the energy sector.

On their trip, the minister also will seek to seal the deal on the 100 million USD loan requested by the Morales government to outfit and modernize the country’s armed forces and for the purchase of a new presidential jet.

The new presidential aircraft Antonov AN-148 would replace a US built Sabre jet dating back to the seventies.

The Bolivian delegation will also discuss the offering by the government of Dmitri Medvedev to build in central Bolivia an international airport and a maintenance centre for Russian-made aircraft that fly in South America, a project that will require an investment of 5 million USD.

Currently the only maintenance centre for this type of aircraft is in Cuba and in 2009 the Russian company signed agreements with Venezuela, Ecuador, Brazil and Peru to supply cargo and passenger aircraft.

During his visit to Venezuela Russian Prime Minister Putin signed oil agreements projects totalling 20 billion US dollars.