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Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visits Bolivia as part of efforts to strengthen energy and economic ties with leftist Latin American leaders. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrived in Bolivia on Thursday (September 27), the first time an Iranian leader has visited the impoverished South American country. Ahmadinejad and Bolivian President Evo Morales signed cooperation accords on energy and industry. Iran, one of the world's top oil exporters, has antagonized some countries with its program to develop nuclear energy which Washington says is a cover-up to create atomic weapons. But Bolivian officials say Iran can help their country better exploit its vast natural gas reserves, at a time when the state-run energy company is struggling to position itself at the helm of the nationalized energy industry. Hundreds of government supporters lined the streets leading to the presidential palace to welcome the Iranian leader. The two governments agreed to design a five-year industrial cooperation plan with a $1 billion investment. They also agreed to spend up to $100 million on technology, trade and industrial promotion, all landmark agreements between two countries that have never had bilateral relations before. Ahmadinejad said together they are "on the path to dignity" and "nobody could stand in their way". "At the top of our voices we announce that the people of Bolivia and the people of Iran on their high-minded path will come out victorious. On the path of dignity there is no obstacle that can stop us for achieving our goals," Ahmadinejad said at a news conference. Morales spoke more cautiously, emphasizing Bolivia is interested in world stability. "The international community can be sure that Bolivia's foreign policies are firmly orientated towards the search for a peace with equality and social justice," he said. Bolivia's first indigenous leader, Morales often lashes out at what he calls U.S. imperialism and accuses Washington of funding the political opposition, which U.S. officials deny. But Morales has said the Iranian leader's visit did not mean La Paz would support a possible Iranian arms build-up. Ahmadinejad's reception in Bolivia was far from the one he received earlier this week in the United States, where protesters thronged at his appearance at New York's Columbia University. In Bolivia, only a small group of human rights activists gathered in protest. They were kept far from the presidential palace, but were still determined to have their voices hear. "It is a country with an oil and petrochemical industry and that is what Bolivia needs but it is also a country where the human rights of women are trampled on, women are stoned for adultery, and where the human rights of gays and lesbians are trampled on, and so we want to make clear what our point of view is on the presence of the Iranian president in our country," said rights activist Maria Galindo. Ahmadinejad's speeches cause outrage in the West. He claimed this week that Iran has no homosexuals, and that a "different perspective" is needed on the events of the Holocaust. Next stop for Ahmadinejad is Venezuela, where he will meet with his counterpart Hugo Chavez also on Thursday.