"Bolivia's president, Rodrigo Paz, defended South American unity on Monday and said that 'ideology does not feed people', speaking at the Planalto Palace in Brasilia during his first official visit to Brazil. During a speech at the headquarters of the Brazilian executive branch, Paz said that South America is one of the 'most extraordinary' regions in the world and stressed that it cannot be divided by current global political scenarios. "But beyond being one of the most extraordinary regions, that is to say, South America. Beyond its linguistic diversity, we are part of an extraordinary journey that cannot be divided or separated, neither by ideologies nor by political conditions nor by the circumstantial moments these global political scenarios may experience," Paz said. He also noted that in Bolivia they have understood, through the democratic vote, that 'ideology does not feed people' and argued that what truly generates well-being is production and economic growth. "We are going to produce and grow hand in hand with Brazil and with all those nations that want to understand that Bolivia is in a new paradigm of its development and has decided through the vote, through the vote and not through violence but through the vote, to change the course of its destiny," Paz said. Paz also praised the signing of two economic agreements - in areas such as electricity interconnection and tourism - noting that "it is the beginning of a new stage; it is the beginning of a way of seeing each other differently." Finally, he recalled that between Chile, Brazil and Bolivia lies one of the greatest diversities of minerals in the world, although he stressed that Bolivia is the country that concentrates the largest amount of these resources. "Peru generates more than 50 billion USD a year, and Chile generates close to 65 billion dollars only in state and private mining. Bolivia is just beginning. Last year we barely generated 6 billion [dollars]," he added. Paz will conclude his visit to Brazil this Tuesday in Sao Paulo, where he will take part in a business forum to be held at the headquarters of the Federation of Industries of the State of Sao Paulo (Fiesp), with the presence of at least 80 representatives from the Bolivian business sector."