This is a Veniran tractor

The town of Calabozo lies south of Caracas, on the hot, flat plains of Venezuela. Mud spattered pick-up trucks rattle along the streets. It is cattle country, a region dominated by farming.

Veniran tractor

Agriculture is just one sector where the two countries have partnerships

Inside the entrance to the Ministry of Agriculture compound, a brand new tractor is displayed.

It was created with Iranian know-how in a Venezuelan factory - a potent symbol of co-operation between a Persian nation and South American.

Alberto farms rice and livestock. "My very first tractor was a Veniran model," he says.

"I bought it at a discount with a cheap government loan. Things have really changed around here because of the agreements with the Iranians."

"Before I was just a hired hand, I couldn't even aspire to being a farmer. Now I have all the machinery I need, thanks to the government of President Chavez."

Fraternity

Agreements between Venezuela and Iran cover a wide range of industries

In the past five years Iran and Venezuela have signed dozens of agreements in all kinds of sectors - banking, construction, food processing, engineering, transport, and, of course, oil.

Joint investments total around $20 billion (£12bn).

Training

Calabozo is reaping some of the benefits of that fraternal hug.

On the edge of town, a huge housing complex rises from the rust-coloured earth.

An Iranian company is providing the expertise and engineering skill.

Andre Bandari, an Iranian, is the site manager at the new Veniran maize-processing plant. He says this is one of 10 planned across Venezuela.

The Iranians who have built the factory stay for anything from six months to a year.

For the first time our young people are being trained properly

Maria Cristina Rodriguez, one of the workers from President Chavez's United Socialist Party, is proud of Calabozo's association with Iran.

"For the first time our young people are being trained properly," she says.

"The Iranians are teaching them how do things. They are bringing their knowledge here, and building up the industrial base of the region."

Even her elderly father has a Veniran tractor.

The relationship's just got stronger, and we don't know where it's taking us
Onofrio de Nino Garcia.

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