Nearly 70 journalists were forced into exile over the past 12 months, with more than half coming from Iran and Cuba, two of the world's most repressive nations, a new survey by the Committee to Protect Journalists has found.
The Bolivian Government asked Iranian Defence Minister Ahmad Vahídi, accused by Argentina of masterminding the Buenos Aires AMIA terrorist attack in 1994, to leave the country after an Argentine attorney asked Interpol to arrest him, Foreign Minister Héctor Timerman said.
United States announced new sanctions on Venezuela's state oil company PDVSA and six other smaller oil and shipping companies for engaging in trade with Iran in violation of a US ban.
Uruguay resisted pressures from the administration of former US President George W. Bush to reduce ties with Iran. Uruguay’s Foreign Affairs minister Luis Almagro on a Middle East tour made the revelation during a meeting in Teheran with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, according to the official Iranian news agency.
Argentina’s Foreign Affairs Minister Héctor Timerman began his first official trip to Israel and denied offering to “forget” Iran's role in attacks against Israel's Embassy in BA and AMIA Jewish Community Centre in exchange for improved trade ties with Teheran.
Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff and her predecessor Lula da Silva will be meeting this week for an international event in Portugal, just a few days after the new government abandoned a pro-dialogue with Iran position for a more neutral stance.
Brazil’s vote in the UN Human Rights Council in support of a rapporteur to monitor human rights in Iran, proposed by the US, signals the first great divergence in foreign policy between the current administration of President Dilma Rousseff and her predecessor and mentor Lula da Silva.
Bolivian President Evo Morales delivered a blunt reply on Monday to visiting US Secretary of Defence Robert Gates's warning about dealings with Iran, saying Bolivia will ally with whomever it wants.
A Brazilian non government organization which defends the rights of homosexuals launched a campaign to protest President Lula da Silva’s visit to Iran scheduled for next May 15.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps has stepped up its presence in Latin America, especially in Venezuela, according to a Pentagon report to the United States Congress partially de-classified this week.