Iran president heads to Venezuela

Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has headed to the Venezuelan capital Caracas to take part in the inauguration ceremony of the Latin American country’s new President Nicolas Maduro.

According to IRNA, Ahmadinejad started the trip on Thursday accompanied by Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi among others.
Socialist Maduro was declared the winner of Venezuela’s presidential election on Sunday. He won 50.7 percent of the vote against 49.1 percent for opposition candidate Henrique Capriles, a difference of 235,000 ballots.
On March 8, Maduro became Venezuela’s acting president, following the death of late President Hugo Chavez, who lost a two-year-long battle with cancer on March 5.
Maduro has promised to continue the socialist policies of the former leader.
Prior to his departure, Ahmadinejad said, “Iran’s relation with Venezuela…symbolizes Iran’s relation with Latin America.”
He noted: “This remark does not signify that our entire relations with Latin America are conditioned on relations with Venezuela, but relation with this country symbolizes Iran’s relation with Latin America.”
The Iranian president said the Islamic Republic of Iran enjoys expanded relations with Venezuela in industrial, business, energy, cultural, and political areas.