The leftist authoritarian regimes in Latin America expressed public condolences to Iran on Monday over the death of President Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, and several other senior regime officials.
Raisi died on a helicopter that crashed on Sunday while returning home from neighboring Azerbaijan. Raisi, who took office in 2021, has been known for years as the “butcher of Tehran” due to his participation in a series of mass executions of between 5,000 and 30,000 Iranian political prisoners that took place in 1988, when he served as Iran’s deputy prosecutor general. He nonetheless made public statements proclaiming himself a “defender of human rights.”
Over the past two years, the late Iranian president spearheaded efforts to expand Iran’s influence in Latin America, touring the region and signing multiple cooperation agreements and business deals. Raisi also promoted anti-Israel and anti-American sentiment in the Western Hemisphere.
In June 2023, Raisi conducted a tour of Latin America that saw him travel to the authoritarian regimes in the region: Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua. In March 2024, Raisi met with Bolivia’s socialist President Luis Arce in Algeria on the sidelines of a meeting of gas-exporting countries. Many experts consider Bolivia the Islamic regime’s “most successful” project in the region after decades of using communist and socialist dictatorship to amplify Tehran’s agenda there.
The socialist regime in control of Venezuela issued a statement through its Foreign Ministry on Monday morning in which dictator Nicolás Maduro and his “first combatant” wife Cilia Flores expressed their “deepest sorrow” and “heartfelt words of comfort, peace, and encouragement” over the death of Raisi. The couple said they were “raising their prayers to the compassionate and merciful God to grant the necessary spiritual strength in these moments of grief.”
The statement read:
Venezuela conveys to the entire Iranian nation and to the families and relatives of the deceased its deep sorrow and hopes that the invaluable legacy of President Raisi, who demonstrated his loyalty and friendship with the Venezuelan people and government, will continue in every act of well-being for his nation, justice, peace and the welfare of humanity.
The Venezuelan Foreign Ministry also expressed hope that investigations carried out by Iranian authorities will “promptly determine the origin and causes of this fatal event.”
Prior to the statement, Maduro published a message on social media where he described Raisi as a “brother,” an “exemplary person, an extraordinary leader of the world” and an “excellent human being, defender of the sovereignty of his people and unconditional friend of our country. “
“A heartfelt embrace from the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. You, Iran, are an example of dignity, morality and resistance. Strength, brothers and sisters!” Maduro concluded.
Estoy consternado ante la dura noticia sobre la sensible pérdida física del Presidente de la República Islámica de Irán, Ebrahim Raisi. A Cilia, quien es amiga de su señora esposa, y a mí nos embarga un gran dolor por tener que despedir a una persona ejemplar, un extraordinario… pic.twitter.com/h3LOX1Zhn9
— Nicolás Maduro (@NicolasMaduro) May 20, 2024
In Cuba, the communist Castro regime’s figurehead President Miguel Díaz-Canel expressed regret on behalf of the ruling communist party over the loss of Raisi, whom he described as a “great friend, admirable politician, and loved by his people.”
El Partido, el Gobierno y el pueblo de #Cuba, lamentan profundamente la pérdida de un gran amigo, político admirable y querido por su pueblo: el Presidente de la República Islámica de #Irán Ebrahim Raisi, de su canciller Hossein Amir Abdollahian y sus acompañantes. pic.twitter.com/hnDoHTGgYh
— Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez (@DiazCanelB) May 20, 2024
Nicaraguan communist dictator Daniel Ortega expressed condolences in a letter addressed to Iranian “supreme leader” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. In the letter, published in state-affiliated media, Ortega said he was accompanying Khamenei “from the heart” in grief.
“As always, to all our Affection, Prayers and Solidarity, present in the sadness in Fraternal Union, and sure that God Our Lord will alleviate this affliction, and the Spiritual Strength of the Iranian Authorities and Brothers will make them go ahead and continue to fight the necessary Battles for Justice and Peace,” the letter read.
“To the Family of each one of the deceased Brothers our sincere and very close feelings of sorrow, in the Living Hope of the Resurrection,” Ortega concluded.
Bolivia’s socialist President Luis Arce issued a statement recounting his recent March meeting with Raisi in Algeria during the sidelines of the Assembly of Heads of Gas Exporting Countries.
“At that meeting, his leadership and deep commitment to his people were evident. They showed their willingness to work together with Bolivia to strengthen vital areas such as health, education, agriculture, telecommunications and more, which we value infinitely,” Arce’s message read.
“From Bolivia we send our heartfelt condolences to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, to the Government of Iran, to the brave Iranian people and to the families of the deceased in these moments of deep sorrow. The Bolivian people are with you in this difficult moment,” the message ended.
Con profunda tristeza recibimos la noticia del fallecimiento del presidente de Irán, Ebrahim Raisi, en el trágico accidente aéreo junto a su comitiva, en la que también se encontraba el ministro de Asuntos Exteriores, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.
El 2 de marzo, tuvimos el honor de… pic.twitter.com/KS4b3miXK7
— Luis Alberto Arce Catacora (Lucho Arce) (@LuchoXBolivia) May 20, 2024
The Colombian condolences came in the form of a press note issued by that nation’s Foreign Ministry in which the government, led by far-left President Gustavo Petro, expressed its condolences to the families of the helicopter crash victims “and the Iranian people in general.”
#Atención | El Gobierno de Colombia lamenta profundamente el fallecimiento del Presidente de Irán, Ibrahim Raisí y del ministro de Exteriores, Hosein Amir Abdolahian, y las otras personas que perdieron la vida en el accidente de helicóptero sucedido este domingo 19 de mayo de… pic.twitter.com/gUueqtgUaq
— Cancillería Colombia (@CancilleriaCol) May 20, 2024
Brazil’s Foreign Ministry released a statement on Monday expressing its “deep sorrow” over the news of Raisi’s death.
“The Brazilian government extends its most sincere condolences and solidarity to the families of President Raisi, Foreign Minister Abdollahian, and the other victims, as well as to the government and people of Iran, for their irreplaceable losses,” the statement read.
Ebrahim Raisi (R) meets with Brazilian President Inacio Lula da Silva (L) as part of the 15th BRICS Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, on August 24, 2023. (Photo by Iranian Presidency/ Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Mexico’s leftist President Andrés Manuel López Obrador expressed his “deepest condolences” to the Iranian people over the deaths in remarks given on Monday morning as part of his usually lengthy weekly press conference.
Chile’s Foreign Ministry expressed condolences over the death of Raisi, Iranian Foreign Minister Amir-Abdollahian, and their entourage through a brief statement released on Monday.
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.
