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Nicaragua, Venezuela sign 17 aid
agreements
A raft of economic aid
agreements have been signed by
Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez
and his Nicaraguan counterpart
Danial Ortega in an attempt to
offset a proposed U.S. trade
deal.
According to one of the 17
agreements, Nicaragua will
supply 100,000 barrels of oil
under preferential terms and
build an oil refinery.
The agreements form part of the
Bolivarian Alternative for the
Americas (ALBA), which is aimed
at acting as a counterweight to
the U.S. proposed
hemisphere-wide trade deal,
according to Ortega.
Venezuela, forgiving 30 million
dollars debt owed by Nicaragua,
will also lend 20 million
dollars with little or no
interest to the country's rural
poor, and will help to improve
health care and education.
The construction of a food
supply network and two aluminium
plants are also among the
agreements.
Dionisio Marenco, the Sandinista
mayor of Managua, said the
agreements stood for solidarity
pacts with Nicaragua as ALBA was
not a free trade agreement.
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