July 23, 2023, 4:00 AM
July 23, 2023, 4:00 AM
The agreement signed on Thursday between the Bolivian Defense Minister, Edmundo Novillo, and his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Reza Ashtiani, includes agreements on lithium, the sale to Bolivia of surface-to-air missiles to replace Chinese rockets that they were deactivated in 2005, weapons and the assembly of an intelligence apparatus in cyberspace, reveal military and official sources who requested reservation.
This medium turned to the Ministry of Defense to get the document signed, but this state department reported that the scope will be detailed this week, not before.
Thursday in Tehranboth ministers reported that the objective of the agreement is to expand cooperation bilateral in the field of security and defense, reported the Persian state agency IRNA. In Bolivia, neither ABI nor the state media placed this issue among their main headlines.
The public communication service of the United Kingdom British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) reported that the new security agreement has not been detailed and the parties have barely informed that it is aimed at helping Bolivia in its fight against drug trafficking and to reinforce surveillance of its borders.
The Iranian minister admitted that the pact includes the sale of material and the training of personnel.
“In light of the critical needs of Bolivia andin matters of border defense and the fight against drug traffickingwe will actively establish collaborations in equipment and specialized knowledge with that country”, declared Ashtiani, according to the BBC.
From the Institute of Studies for War (ISW, for its acronym in English) took it for granted that the government of Tehran will offer its drones to the La Paz authorities.
In a report to the BBC, the organization specialized in military issues justified its suspicions in the fact that the Iranian minister assured, before signing the agreement, that his country’s military industry was ready to offer “advanced technology” to Bolivia.
Likewise, the ISW reminded the English media that Persian drones have been used in many countries for border surveillance work. In 2022, a senior Iranian official assured that 22 countries their drones were already operating, among which is Venezuela.
The security specialist, the Bolivian Samuel Montaño in a contact with EL DEBER, pointed out that the agreement includes the sale to Bolivia of Mandpads portable missiles. “We can then say that Iran will replenish the chinese missile mandpads that were disabled and delivered to the United States, during the government of Eduardo Rodríguez Veltzé, in 2005”.
In October of that yearor, 37 Chinese-made HA-5A missiles left Bolivia for the US where they were dismantled.
Evo Morales presented in 2005, in his capacity as deputy, a lawsuit against then President Eduardo Rodríguez, who was not prosecuted by decision of the Legislative Assembly, the Minister of Ddefense and other military chiefs for the deliveryaa USA and missile deactivation.
They were accused of treason.
After that case, Russia and the United States signed a treaty, together with other countries, in which they agreed that these types of missiles could not be sold to some nations, including Bolivia.
“Since 2005, there were disputes between China and Washington. Beijing threatened to replace those missiles to Bolivia, and the times it did, the US government threatened him with trade war. Iran already has this blockade imposed, so offering this material to Bolivia is a direct challenge to the US,” explained Montaño.
The United States government reimposed economic sanctions on Iran in 2018, after breaking an agreement against the use of nuclear weapons signed in 2015, accusing it of of posing a security threat. It has also urged other countries to suspend all Iranian oil imports or face financial measures against them.
In 2006, the UN Security Council passed Resolution 16963 and imposed sanctions after Iran refused to suspend its uranium enrichment program.
That is why Iran, for Samuel Montaño, finds in its military industry, a good economic income to counteract these blockades.
Minister Novillo assured that the Bolivian government is “interested and willing to cooperate with Iran” not only in security matters, but also “in the scientific, defense and security sectors,” he warned, according to the BBC. Steer, who arrived in Tehran on July 16, defeThe agreement with Iran was handed down, a country that he described as “a model” for nations that seek freedom for its “remarkable progress in science, technology, security and defense industry, despite the international sanctions imposed against the regime of the ayatollahs.
Relations between the two countries have been strengthening since the first government of Evo Morales. The then presidents of Bolivia and Mahmud Ahmadinejad (Iran) excused two official visits each one and during these trips they signed dozens of agreements to promote the production of food and medicines, as well as cultural, scientific and technological links.
In September 2022, the leaders of Bolivia and Irann, Luis Arce and Ebrahim Raisi, metn within the framework of the 77th General Assembly of the United Nations.
Only during the government of Jeannie Añez (2019-2020) did bilateral ties freeze, but they were resumed with the election of Arce, who was minister of Evo Morales. Iran has made it clear that it maintains its interest in Bolivia and the region as a whole. “South American countries have a special place in the foreign and defense policy of Iran due to being located in a very sensitive area”, Ashtiani admitted to the English medium.
Deeper
For former minister Carlos Sánchez Berzaín, this agreement is “of high treason to the homeland and surrender”.
“Bolivia is a satellite dictatorship of 21st century socialism whose head is Cuba and the most important platform is Venezuela. Our country is also aligned with the dictatorships of Russia, China and Iran. This agreement that appears as cooperative The military is nothing more than a subordination mechanism,” said the former Defense Minister.
He assured that “Bolivia has made an act of surrender of lithium, it does not make decisions for the national interest, but on instructions from Havana and Caracas. This agreement with Iran has lithium as its essential point, ”he said.
Other sources, among them one from the ruling party, agreed that when Morales and Arce were taken to Cuba it was not to “give them good,” but to tell thems what to do with the lithium production agreements with China and Russia.
One of the informants pointed out that behind Putin’s government is Iran. In June, the Government of Luis Arce authorized two other companies, one Russian and one Chinese, to extract lithium from the Bolivian salt flats.
Sánchez Berzaín added that this agreement has the purpose of turning Bolivia, like Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela, into armed platforms for intelligence and aggression against international peace and security. “Do not forget that Cuba has just been exposed because they discovered that it had a Chinese spy system targeting the United States. Nicaragua is armed by the Iranians and the Russians, while Venezuela is the base more important for Russian and Iranian weapons, missiles and espionage, these two countries have a direct connection,” he said.
The lawyer and colonel in passive service Jorge Santistevan pointed out that the missiles and weapons are a smokescreen. “What they agreed on is the formation of the system intelligence C5I, the Command Center, Control of Communications and Cyberintelligence. If it were used to keep sovereignty in check it would be good. But with this system, the Bolivian government seeks to strengthen the intelligence apparatus. Control and intervene in communications including WhatsApp and other encrypted media, implement hackers, with sophisticated technology. In fact, in the Army there is already a director and the members of the C5I system, ”he said.
