The handshake between the Bolivian Defense Minister, Edmundo Novillo, and his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Reza Ashtiani, in Tehran, on July 19, has aroused the concern of neighboring countries such as Argentina and Chile.
(Read also: El Salvador: How did the ‘drop by drop’ network to which Colombians belonged operate?)
These nations have requested that more details be given on the scope of the cooperation agreed between both countries. regarding the fight against smuggling, drug trafficking and control of its borders.
And it is that Bolivia’s relationship with its neighboring countries has often been conflictive when it comes to border issues, which is why the exhibition of Iranian drones that the Bolivian minister attended during his visit, andn in which he expressed his interest in having this type of device to monitor his territorial limitsput the five countries with which it shares a border on alert.
“Those who have wanted to mention that my trip to Iran could mean a risk, a threat to peace for the region, I believe that this is a fanciful and limitless fallacy or with purely political interests,” Novillo said after the diplomatic note. to the Bolivian Embassy in Buenos Aires.
(Read also: Crime and mystery: Kupper appeared, the businessman’s dog murdered and dismembered)
The first country to formally complain was the government of Alberto Fernández, because relations with Iran are a particularly sensitive issue due to the deadly terrorist attacks against the Israeli Embassy in 1992 and the Argentine Israeli Mutual Association (Amia) in 1994. , carried out with the participation of Iranian intelligence officials and members of the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.
The Chilean government assured that they are trying to confirm the information about the drones, although they pointed out that there is a history of meetings between Latin American countries and Iranian authorities that do not prosper. “Many times these big announcements do not materialize, so you have to verify the information”, assured the chancellor Alberto van Klaveren.
However, members of the House Foreign Relations Committee expressed concern that Iranian drones will be used to patrol hot spots such as border crossings.
“Both Chile and the region are concerned that Bolivia is assuming international commitments with countries that have many issues related to terrorism, in matters as sensitive as security and border control.
There is still a lot of doubt regarding what is really being agreed upon, there is talk of support for security, there is talk of drones, but the scope is not yet clear,” Deputy Raúl Soto, a member of this commission, assured EL TIEMPO.
(Also read: Ecuador faces a growing wave of violence on the eve of its presidential elections)
A position shared by parliamentarian Félix González, who assured that military cooperation agreements are common between countries like the United States and South Korea, but Iran’s entry into this equation is problematic due to its frontal confrontation with Western powers.
“It is a complex border where there is drug trafficking that worries both governments, where there is human trafficking, so monitoring the border is an imperative, in fact, the Government of Chile has asked the Government of Bolivia to strengthen border surveillance, and if that is going to be done today with Iranian drones, it is clear that it generates noise,” González told EL TIEMPO.
A long-standing relationship
But Iran’s ties to Latin American countries are not new. The relationship with Venezuela, for example, dates back to before the Islamic Republic, from the very founding of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) in 1960, and with Bolivia it has been strengthening in the last 15 years.
“The relationship between Bolivia and Iran began in 2007, under the government of Evo Morales, and each year it increased. Iran has always had the ambition to have defense agreements with the countries of Latin America, and it already has them with Venezuela and Nicaragua. Now he is looking for them with Bolivia,” Joseph Humire, executive director of the Center for a Free and Secure Society in Washington, told EL TIEMPO.
The relationship between Bolivia and Iran began in 2007, under the government of Evo Morales, and each year it increased. Iran has always had ambition to have defense agreements
In fact, it was hand in hand with Iran that Venezuela became the only country in the region to possess armed drones, as was evident during a military parade in July of last year, when the Ansu 100 models were exhibited.
And although the government of Nicolás Maduro assures that they are nationally manufactured, experts point out that they would be an updated version of the Iranian Mohajer 2 drone, the first to be assembled in Venezuelan territory almost a decade ago, after a military agreement between Hugo Chávez and the then Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad.
“Iran’s specialty is building asymmetric conflicts and taking advantage of this to destabilize borders, This is what they have done in the Middle East, in countries like Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Lebanon. And they are bringing that knowledge to Latin America”, warns Humire.
This year, the Iranian regime has moved to strengthen its relations in the region. At the beginning of January, two Iranian warships sailed close to the Brazilian coast, and even had authorization to dock at a port in Rio de Janeiro, something that did not happen because the government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva did not want the presence of the destroyer Iris Dena and the warship Iris Makran coincided with the first meeting that he would have in those days with the president of the United States, Joe Biden.
Added to this is the tour that Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi made in June, which took him to Caracas, Managua and Havana under the slogan of sending a message of unity against the economic sanctions imposed by the United States. United against the governments of these countries.
“We are friends in difficult times,” said Raisi at the first stop of this tour in Venezuela, where economic agreements for nearly 3,000 million dollars were signed.
What is a fact is that Iran seeks to consolidate its presence in the Western Hemisphere and continue adding economic and military partners that will allow it to emerge from its isolation.
ANDREA AGUILAR CORDOBA
TIME
REMOVED
More news in EL TIEMPO
IMF and Argentina reach technical agreement for another debt refinancing review
The reasons behind the historic decline in poverty in Chile
#Bolivias #military #alliance #Iran #triggers #alerts #Latin #America