During his visit to Bolivia and Venezuela, Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad pledged to strengthen ties with the two nations and continue the fight against imperialism with his Bolivian and Venezuelan counterparts.

Ahmadinejad met with Bolivia’s leftist president Evo Morales on Thursday and vowed to contribute to the country’s economic development with 1 billion dollars. Several agreements on collaboration in the petroleum, mining industry and agriculture were signed during their meeting in La Paz.

“I want to say loud and clear that the Iranian people and government stand always by the side of Bolivia's people and administration,” Ahmadinejad said after his meting with Morales.

Venezuela and Iran sealed agreements on cooperation in the petrochemical and the production of car parts sectors during Ahmadinejad’s visit to Caracas late Thursday.

Both Ahmadinejad and Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez are ardent critics of the Bush administration and pledged to continue their fight against “exploitation and imperialism.”

Chavez praised his Iranian counterpart for his significant contribution to this battle and said he is “a great fighter against imperialism and for peace.”

Ahmadinejad completed Chavez and said “the end of an era of exploitation and imperialism” is drawing closer because there are “clear signs of an awakening and a revolution that would unite the different peoples of the world.”

The president of the Islamic Republic of Iran said Chavez is a close friend and both will continue their crusade against imperialism along with supporting oppressed people across the world.

Iranian and Venezuelan representatives have already signed 164 cooperation agreements in the economic, industrial, commercial and construction sectors, while the two leaders vowed to establish a 2-billion-dollar fund which would help other developing countries that want to break lose from “the yoke of imperialism.”

Ahmadinejad flew to the South American countries after visiting New York and attending the annual session of the United Nations General Assembly.