ALBA-Petróleos May Finance Aguán Land Deal

Honduras Weekly
ALBA-Petróleos, a subsidiary of Venezuela's state-owned Petróleos de Venezuela SA, announced last week that it is interested in partnering with the Honduran government to finance the purchase of 5,700 hectares (14,085 acres) of land in Honduras' northeastern Bajo Aguán Valley from businessman Miguel Facussé in exchange for rights to build an African palm oil processing/export plant in the area. The company would invest Lps 546 million (US$28.7 million) in a deal arranged by the National Agrarian Institute (INA) transferring ownership of the land to two peasant organizations -- the Unified Peasant Movement of Aguán (MUCA) and the Authentic Peasant Protest Movement of Aguán (MARCA). "We are winding up everything that has to do with the Aguán, and we are looking for sources of financing, " said INA's legal adviser, Marco Ramiro Lobo. "We have received some calls from the ALBA-Petróleos company part of Alba of Venezuela; they have shown interest in getting to know the situation in the Aguán."

According to Mr. Lobo, INA director, César Ham, will be responsible for negotiating the financing agreement with representatives of Alba-Petróleos. He also stressed that Honduras would not be required to rejoin the ALBA (Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas). On January 13, 2010, the Honduran Congress voted to withdraw the country from ALBA based on concerns over the Venezuela-led political alliance's perceived meddling in Honduras' internal affairs.