Bolivian president dismisses warning on Iran ties

Last month, Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visited Bolivia, which voiced support for the country's right to a nuclear programme.

Bolivian President Evo Morales dismissed US warnings against developing close ties with Iran in an interview published Monday in Spain, saying he would not accept "colonial attitudes".

Earlier this month US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said countries such as Venezuela and Bolivia should "think twice" about the consequences of their ties with the Islamic Republic, which Washington accuses of seeking nuclear weapons. Iran says its nuclear programme is for peaceful energy purposes.

Asked about Clinton's warning, Morales told Spanish daily El Mundo that Bolivia - would not allow paternalism on the part of any country in the world. -

- Colonial attitudes have ended, at least while I am president. Hillary Clinton is making a mistake by warning me, threatening me, lifting a yellow card - he added.

- We are now going to continue to have ties with revolutionary and anti-imperialist nations, with more greater strength. -

Morales and several other left-wing South American leaders, including Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, have pursued closer ties with Russia and China as well as with Iran, causing discomfort in Washington.

Last month, Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visited Bolivia, which voiced support for the country's right to a nuclear programme.

Morales, Bolivia's first indigenous president, has accused Barack Obama, the first black president of the United States, of continuing Washington's historically heavy-handed relationship with Latin America.

In his interview with El Mundo, Morales said Obama was following the footsteps of his predecessor George W. Bush since entering the White House in January.

- I could give (Obama) lessons in how to improve his image and that is by working for equality, for the well-being of our nations. It is a shame that a black brother, whose parents faced discrimination just as that faced by the indigenous movement, carried out this policy - he said.

- Let's see if blacks and indigenous people can unite to solve structural problems. But I believe the black man is being a better student of the white man: Bush - he added.