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.