Bolivia Voices Support for Iranian Government and Attacks Protesters

The Bolivian ambassador in Iran, Romina Pérez, has said the mass anti-government protests taking place across the country have been "orchestrated by British and American Zionists."

While people around the world organize large demonstrations in solidarity with the protesting Iranian people, Bolivia has signalled its support for the repressive Iranian regime, defending the government and describing the nation as Bolivia’s "brother".

In a meeting in Tehran with the mayor of the city of Tabriz, Yaqub Hoshiar, Pérez declared that the Bolivian government "condemns the disturbances in Iran perpetrated by British and American Zionists.” She added: “We are sure these problems will be resolved with the understanding of the dear leader of Iran," referring to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Pérez made no mention of the struggle of Iranian women who have been protesting in response to the death of Mahsa Amini, who died in police custody last month.

Mahsa, a 22-year-old Iranian woman, was arrested on September 13 by the morality police in Tehran for allegedly not respecting the strict dress code for Iranian women, which requires them to wear the hijab, and stipulates even the way it should be worn. She died three days later in hospital, triggering protests across Iran and global demonstrations of solidarity. The protests, which Pérez described as "riots," have been violently suppressed, with increasing numbers killed each day, as well as hundreds wounded and arrested.

In the meeting with Hoshiar, Pérez highlighted that Bolivia and Iran are "brother countries." She said: "We have anti-imperialist ideas, and we have stood united against imperialism." In response, Hoshiar welcomed Bolivia’s support: "Bolivia's anti-imperialist vision is gratifying, and it is the same message that Imam Khomeini presented 50 years ago."

Pérez's meeting with the mayor of Tabriz occurred after the presidents of Iran and Bolivia, Ebrahim Raisi and Luis Arce, met on September 20 during the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

At that meeting, Raisi highlighted the strong relationship between the two countries: "Relations between Iran and Bolivia are friendly and developing". He added that "ties between the two countries are not ordinary political relations and must be developed daily."

In Bolivia, opposition parties and the public have rejected Pérez's recent statements on the Iranian protests, which dismissed the struggles of thousands of women to defend their rights. Opposition senator Cecilia Requena told the Bolivian media that "these are unacceptable statements because they ended up relativizing and generating support for the Iranian regime, which at this moment is massacring women who fight for their rights."

Bolivia and Iran: a long-standing and controversial relationship

The relationship of Bolivia’s ruling party, the Movement for Socialism (MAS), has been close to the Iranian regime since it first entered government under Evo Morales in 2006. This friendship included a visit by former Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2012 to Bolivia and the opening of a Spanish version of the Iranian state television channel, Press TV, which has since broadcast propaganda for the regime.

Since then, the MAS party has set up an "Anti-Imperialist School" for the Armed Forces, with instructors who are agents from Iran, Cuba, Venezuela and Russia. The school was founded in June 2011 in a rural area of Santa Cruz, Bolivia, causing a diplomatic incident with Argentina due to the presence of Iranian defense minister Ahmad Vahidi at the inauguration. The Argentine justice department has accused Vahidi of being one of the ideological authors of the attack on the Argentine Jewish Mutual Association in Buenos Aires in 1994, during which 85 people died.

The ties between Bolivia and Iran were interrupted during the interim presidency of Jeanine Áñez, but Arce re-established relations following his election in November 2020. In doing so, the Bolivian president joins Venezuela, Cuba, Argentina, Peru, Mexico, Chile and Colombia in publicly demonstrating their alliance with the Iranian regime.

Following the Bolivian ambassador’s controversial statements, neither Pérez nor Arce referred to the Iranian government’s brutal attempts to suppress the protests. According to the NGO Iran Human Rights, more than 185 people have already died during the recent wave of protests, including 19 children.