<i>Ahmadinejad shores up support in Bolivia, Venezuela </i>

Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez (R) and his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad greet each other Thursday at the Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas. Ahmadinejad arrived in Caracas Thursday for talks with Chavez, following a brief trip to Bolivia, another anti-US ally in South America. Photo: AFP

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrived in Caracas Thursday for talks with Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez, following a brief trip to Bolivia, another anti-US ally in South America.
Chavez and fellow leftist President Evo Morales, of Bolivia, both support Iran's controversial nuclear programme and, like Ahmadinejad, are virulent critics of the US administration.
The two South American nations have reached a number of trade and aid agreements with Iran, particularly in the energy sector.
In La Paz, Ahmadinejad and Morales signed a joint statement recognizing "the rights of developing nations to develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes."
Iran rejects US charges that it is trying to build atomic weapons under the guise of its civilian nuclear programme and insists it is entitled to pursue uranium enrichment as a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty.