By Aurora Lane | 2023-10-18

LA PAZ -- The Bolivian government, led by President Luis Arce, is facing heightened criticism over ongoing negotiations with Iran concerning the acquisition of drones.

This surge in scrutiny follows the recent attacks carried out by the Hamas terrorist group, which is financially supported by the Iranian regime.

Israel declared war on Hamas after its group's fighters broke through the heavily fortified border and shot, stabbed and burned to death more than 1,400 people, most of them civilians.

In July of this year, an agreement was inked between Iran's defense minister, Gen. Mohammad Reza Ashtiani, and his Bolivian counterpart, Edmundo Novillo Aguilar.

The agreement outlines Tehran's commitment to providing drones meant to address drug trafficking and other cross-border smuggling, according to the Iranian news agency IRNA.

"The most concerning aspect is that we procured the drones from a nation that is heavily criticized by numerous countries globally and by the United Nations. Iran is a country with a well-established support for terrorism. This procurement reflects poorly on a country like Bolivia, implying that we are acquiring resources and weapons from nations significantly involved in terrorism," said Omar Durán, a Bolivian lawyer and specialist in aeronautics, during an interview with Entorno.

Durán emphasized that this acquisition primarily serves Iran's interests, not Bolivia's. Bolivia's military needs do not align with drones but instead require different kinds of essential and more suitable military provisions for the Bolivian armed forces, he said.

"Drones require efficient and essential management, a capacity we currently lack. To establish proficient drone management, a substantial contingent of officers and non-commissioned officers from the armed forces would likely need to undergo training in a country known for its association with global terrorism," declared Durán.

'Potential acts of terrorism'

The president of the Delegation of Argentine Israeli Associations, Jorge Knoblovits, stated that any contributions from Iran to Latin America should not be considered.

"There is no other interpretation than these acts being related to espionage or laying the groundwork for potential acts of terrorism," Knoblovits said.

He pointed out that the very drones intended to patrol the Bolivian border are "the same devices that recently destroyed a barn in Ukraine," according to the Infobae news site.

Drones manufactured by Iran have become a major feature of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Iran and Russia have formed an increasingly strong alliance as two isolated pariah states. But Russia's dependence on Iran for weapons has been surprising to the world, as the Kremlin has touted its military prowess for decades.

On July 23, Marcelo Pedrazas, an opposition deputy of the Citizen Community political alliance, expressed concern that the Arce government is moving away from the international community and establishing relations with countries known for human rights violations, such as Iran, Russia, Venezuela and Nicaragua.

"These agreements, ostensibly aimed at enhancing cooperation in combating drug trafficking, are essentially a means to perpetuate and advance dictatorial principles," the legislator told the Bolivian newspaper Los Tiempos.

Concern in Latin America

These developments should raise concerns on a broader scale, as there is a possibility that the deeper motive is to facilitate the arrival of Iranian personnel in Bolivia, aiming to establish a lasting presence and potentially to create an operation center within the country, said analyst André Lajst, director of StandWithUs Brazil, the Brazilian branch of an international educational organization that fights anti-Semitism.

"It remains unclear whether these developments involve missiles, intelligence cooperation, or the arrival of Iranian personnel intending to establish a lasting investigative or operation center within Bolivia. This ambiguity should be a cause for concern not just for Bolivians but for all of Latin America," highlighted the analyst during a television program in Argentina.

After the July talks in Tehran between the Bolivian and Iranian defense ministers, the Argentine Foreign Ministry sent an official communication to the Bolivian Embassy in Buenos Aires, seeking comprehensive details of discussions and potential agreements between the two ministers.

In early August, Andrés Jouannet, a member of the Chilean Chamber of Deputies Defense Committee, expressed deep concern over the pact between Bolivia and Iran, stating that it is "profoundly worrying for us," as reported by the newspaper El Mostrador.

The relationship between Tehran and La Paz "strains our security in some fashion," said Jouannet.

Alberto Rojas, the director of the International Affairs Observatory at Finis Terrae University in Santiago, Chile, expressed concern over the acquisition of technology from Iran, considering it worrisome for neighboring countries like Argentina, Chile and Brazil.