LatinNews Daily Report - 20 June 2012

DIPLOMACY | Bolivia and Iran shore up ties. On 19 June in La Paz President Evo Morales and his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad inked an agreement to deepen bilateral relations. Diplomatic relations were re-established in September 2007 at which point the Iranians pledged US$1.1bn in financial aid and loans for Bolivia. Ahmadinejad previously visited the country in 2007 and 2009, while Morales has travelled to Iran on two occasions, in 2008 and 2010. The latest agreement includes a 10-point document signed by Bolivia’s foreign minister, David Choquehuanca, and his Iranian colleague, Ali Akbar Salehi, the details of which were not made public, on a 2011-2015 strategy against narco-trafficking and reducing excess coca. The US has expressed reservations about Bolivia’s relationship with Iran.