Iranian president arrives in Venezuela

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has arrived in Venezuela on the last leg of his tour of three Latin American countries. Ahmadinejad arrived in Caracas on Friday to meet his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chavez. The two presidents plan to discuss a range of regional and international issues. Earlier in the day, Ahmadinejad was in Brazil, where he attended the Rio+20 Summit, formally known as the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development. The high-level environmental meeting was held from June 20 to 22 at the Riocentro Convention Centre in Rio de Janeiro. On Tuesday, he stopped in Bolivia en route to the summit to meet with Bolivian President Evo Morales. Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi, Vice President for Executive Affairs Hamid Baqaei, and Vice President for International Affairs Ali Sa'eedlou are accompanying President Ahmadinejad on the trip. Chavez has made nine trips to Tehran over the past 13 years while Morales has visited Tehran twice, once in 2008 and again in 2010. Ahmadinejad last visited Latin America in January and made stops in Venezuela, Nicaragua, Ecuador, and Cuba.