Iran Book News Agency (IBNA) - Need for a Latin American Studies Center

Yaser Asgari; expert in Latin American studies: The ever-expanding ties between Iran and the countries of Latin and Central America in terms of politics and economy, on the one hand, and the tendency of developed and developing countries like the US, Russia, China, Japan and Turkey to focus towards the region, on the other hand, have made the area more strategically significant for Iran than before.

IBNA: The US has long looked on Latin America as its backyard and in the past few years it has been seeking the same policies in the region; however, things are now different in the region for the US and are far from its ideals, if not at variance with them. Countering US is now a prevalent slogan chanted by the emerging Latin American leaders, displaying a political vigilance in the region once viewed as the US backyard.

To address the balk of scientific, cultural and economic opportunities in the region and to realistically and precisely underpin such scopes, we (Iranians) are compelled to start an independent hub to constantly, not temporarily, scrutinize the region's developments. Grounds are ready to be broken for such studies on the region provided that a detailed and well-written blueprint is devised for it; this area of study requires in-depth and continuous inquiry and study.

Research opportunities in the region are over our imagination: archeologists may enjoy the historical and geological riches of the region and a sea of data awaits us to be researched; new windows in genetics and laboratory studies are expected to be hatched by us in the region; in agriculture, the story is the same. This is also true about petroleum studies including exploration and excavation of oil and gas reservoirs.

We can create everlasting works in cultural and educational fields in Latin America. For example, cinema provides us with endless working opportunities given the cultural roots of the region that let us move and act in the field.

The [Iranian] government has slowly undertaken some studies in this area recently, mostly in politics and economy, and the private sector is still needed to lend a hand in planning cultural and scientific projects.

Even though late, several cultural and political research projects have started sporadically on the region. After a long time, the Political Studies Office of the Foreign Ministry has decided to arrange a conference about Latin America. Likewise, some studies are being done in Qom. Also, the Tehran University admits Spanish and Latin American studies students, but an independent research center for Latin American studies is still lacking in Iran. Pursuant to its activities, the government should take heed of the area more seriously and launch a specialized center to that effect.

Translated for IBNA by
Abbas Hajihashemi