LIMA, July 24 (Xinhua) -- The United States will continue to provide aid to Bolivia, visiting U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Thomas Shannon said Thursday, according to reports from La Paz, Bolivia's administrative capital.

    The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) was expelled from the South American country in June.

    The U.S. government is committed to constructing a lasting relation based on shared interests and values, said Shannon.

    "The importance of my visit and of the dialogue with President Evo Morales and with the members of the government is to seek a way of understanding," he said.

    "We have a very good understanding of the preoccupations of Bolivia and the common interests we have," Shannon said at a press conference in Santa Cruz in eastern Bolivia.

    Shannon, who arrived in Bolivia Tuesday in a bid to mend bilateral ties, refuted allegations against the U.S. aid group after a meeting with President Morales Wednesday morning.

    He said USAID, which was accused of supporting Bolivia's opposition parties under the guise of aiding local farmers, is not a politically motivated group and its only aim is to help eradicate poverty and social inequality.

    Ties between the two countries have been strained since late June, when President Morales expressed support for the expulsion of USAID by farmers in the coca-growing Chapare region of central Bolivia.