Bolivia's President Evo Morales (right) shakes hands with Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad during a welcoming ceremony at E airport in the outskirts of La Paz yesterday. - AP

LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP):

Vilified by world leaders wary of his nuclear ambitions, Iran's president arrived in Bolivia yesterday to strengthen ties with South American leftists who are embracing him as an energy and trade partner and counterweight to United States influence.

After touching down in the Amazon region city of Santa Cruz, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad flew to the capital of La Paz on a Venezuelan government jet to establish first-time diplomatic relations with the Andean nation.

Morales, a strident leftist who joins Venezuela's Hugo Chavez as one of Iran's allies, called the visit a historic event, saying the two nations "will work together from this day on, for our people, for life and for humanity."

Ahmadinejad called Morales his "dear brother" and said his trip will be "the start of deep relations between both governments."

Ahmadinejad and Morales were expected to sign accords that Bolivian officials say could help them better tap the continent's second-largest natural gas reserves after Venezuela's and drum up urgently needed agricultural and infrastructure investment. Ahmadinejad then heads to Caracas to meet Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez.

On the heels of a U.N. General Assembly appearance in which he exacerbated concerns about Iranian bellicosity, Ahmadinejad's trip south underscores his strengthening links to Latin American nations, also including Nicaragua and Ecuador, even as the United States tries to isolate him internationally.