The dictatorships of Bolivia, Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela are not directly part of the war raging in the Middle East. However, they have redoubled their political, technological and military alliance with the Islamic Republic of Iran. This is a latent threat which, in the current geopolitical context, cannot be underestimated.
“Latin American countries are of special significance in Iran’s foreign and defense policy, based on the importance of the very sensitive South American region,” Iran’s Defense Minister Mohammad Reza Ashtiani said in a public statement in 2023.
Bolivia has broken diplomatic relations with Israel, and nine months ago it signed a military agreement with Iran. The Memorandum of Bilateral Cooperation with the Ministry of Defense of Tehran marks an unprecedented point in bilateral relations between the two countries. Bolivia, the third largest producer of cocaine in the world, claims that the agreement seeks to combat drug trafficking and strengthen border security, which is hard to believe. The country has also requested drones from Iran.
Patricia Bullrich, Argentina’s security minister, said that Bolivia has received more than 700 members of Iran’s Quds Force. This creates a worrying situation, if one considers that these officers are part of the armed wing of the Iranian Islamic state.
The Bolivian regime has also created an anti-imperialist (read: anti-American) School for the Armed Forces, which has military experts from Iran, Cuba and Russia. In 2023, the Russian Federation announced shipment of the first nuclear reactor components requested by Bolivia.
Venezuela is also a close friend of Iran. In 2023, Caracas and Tehran announced that they are seeking to promote greater oil and commercial cooperation going from $3 billion to $20 billion in the coming years.
The dictator of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, has said he hopes to increase flights between his country and Iran, promoting both tourism and scientific-technological collaboration.
Venezuela and Tehran have signed 25 bilateral agreements in sectors such as petrochemicals, transport and mining, among others. Both countries announced that they are seeking to expand exports and oil production.
Cuba and Tehran have also signed six agreements covering areas such as telecommunications, information technology and portable services. The parties also noted the strengthening of exchanges between their respective Ministries of Justice and customs authorities.
In the last decade, Iran granted a line of credit to Cuba, ranging between $200 and $500 million dollars per year.
Unlike with Cuba and Venezuela, Iran’s relationship with Nicaragua has not included strong financial or commercial support, although Ortega has invited Iran to participate in different investment projects. The regimes in Tehran and Managua signed three agreements, one of them focused on promoting free trade. Despite this, there are no commercial routes, attractive products, or competitive prices for such activity.
Today’s world has become a battlefield between tyrannical regimes and democratic governments. The situation in America’s so-called backyard requires an early, preventive, and comprehensive attention.
Iran has a long history of crimes and attacks around the world, and the strengthening of military and technological cooperation with the most violent dictatorships in Latin America should be a matter of concern.
Tehran already has a strong presence in the Caribbean, South America and Central America. Even governments considered democratic, such as Brazil, maintain a robust commercial exchange with the Islamic nation.
Iran’s advances in the region must be studied, stopped and addressed as a national and hemispheric security priority. Their presence is a real and imminent danger.
Arturo McFields Yescas is a former Nicaraguan ambassador to the Organization of American States, an exiled journalist, and a former member of the Peace Corps of Norway.
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