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From Venezuela and made by Venezuelan Chavistas
Venezuelan and Iranian minister for communication and information signing a bilateral agreement at Miraflores Palace in Caracas, with President Raisi and President Maduro in the background chairing the ceremony on Monday, June 12, 2023. Photo: Venezuela's Presidential Press.
This Monday, June 12, Venezuela and the Islamic Republic of Iran signed 25 new cooperation agreements in different areas and announced the goal of increasing the value of their bilateral trade to $10 billion. This was announced by the president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, after a meeting held at Miraflores Palace with his Iranian counterpart, Ebrahim Raisi, who is making his first official visit to Venezuela.
President Maduro described the presence of the Iranian president in Venezuela as an unprecedented event. “This visit marks a new milestone in a relationship that has been built from the brotherhood, from the cooperation of two peoples, of two countries that were born to be brothers: the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela,” said the Venezuelan head of state.
“We have signed 25 agreements, new agreements, investments and oil projects. Petrochemicals, gas, mining, gold, and iron are other areas being considered.”
For his part, the Iranian president said in his speech that economic cooperation went from $600 million to $3 billion dollars in a period of two years, which denotes the strategic nature of the association between Caracas and Tehran: “Commercial and economic exchange has increased to more than $3 billion and the goal we have, in the first step, is to bring it to $10 billion. We have foreseen it. The next step is to bring it to $20 billion.”
The Venezuelan president also referred to the project to create a joint shipping company to facilitate trade not only between the two nations, but also with other allied countries. Likewise, he raised the possibility of strengthening the Venezuela–Iran tourist routes by carrying out daily flights between Caracas and Tehran.
In addition, Maduro revealed a plan to create scientific–technological parks in each state of Venezuela, taking into account the development that Iran has in these areas.
During his speech, the Venezuelan president highlighted the growing relations between the two countries, not only in the economic field, but also in their shared anti-imperialist vision, which rejects any type of aggression from the United States government and its satellites.
Trump’s confessed crimes against humanity
The Venezuelan president also condemned the statements issued last Saturday by former US President Donald Trump, who admitted that during his presidency, he tried to make Venezuela collapse and if he had succeeded, the US would have kept all its oil. “Trump has declared his guilt in crimes against humanity, against the noble and peaceful people of Venezuela,” President Maduro said.
President Maduro added, “Trump declared that the objective of his government and of the sanctions against Venezuela was to make Venezuelan society collapse so that the imperialist power of the United States would seize Venezuelan oil and the wealth of Venezuela.” Maduro repeated the well-known saying: “When there is a confession, you need no proof.”
“They were planning to control the oil, Venezuela being the main oil reserve in the world,” said President Maduro. “They are natural resources that belong solely and exclusively to the brave people of Venezuela, to no one else… Trump could not defeat Venezuela. No empire will be able to do it.” He also called for an end to world empires, noting that “the identity of all regions, cultures, and peoples of the world must be respected.”
(RedRadioVE) with Orinoco Tribune content
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/JRE/SL/BLA
