The country could return to Petrocaribe for its fuel purchase on credit, but not to the ALBA.
The minister of planning and external cooperation, Arturo Corrales said that the deal has already been signed (in 2008) and its just a matter of reactivating the mechanism.
The minister referred to the words of President Porfirio Lobo, "Petrocaribe is a commercial mechanism, strictly commercial, Alba, a political mechanism, No to the Alba ..., Yes to Petrocaribe."
The Congress of Honduras ratified the withdrawal of the country from the Bolivarian Alternative to the Americas (ALBA).
Interim president Roberto Micheletti had sent the executive decree on December 2009.
"Rafael Pineda, presidential minister, had explained that the withdrawal from ALBA doesn't imply suspending commercial relations with the countries which compose the block", reported Proceso.hn.
A rice shipment from Venezuela to Cuba will become the first trade transaction done using Sucres ("Unitary System for the Regional Compensation of Payments").
The announcement was made by Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez.
"Sucre is a common accounting unit, not a physical currency. It was adopted by Alba member countries in 2009 for exchanging products, freeing them from using the U.S. dollar", reported Epa.
Honduras joins the Bolivarian Alternative for American Countries, a club promoted by Venezuela and Cuba.
On October 9th the Honduran Congress ratified the country’s membership in the Alternativa Bolivariana para los pueblos de nuestra América (ALBA, Bolivarian Alternative for American Countries), a regional grouping promoted by Venezuela and Cuba.
There was initial resistance from most legislators, including the members of the ruling Partido Liberal (PL) and the opposition, who were concerned that ALBA was part of the strategy of the Venezuelan president, Hugo Chávez, to increase his political influence in Latin America. However, most Honduran legislators changed their positions between September 9th, when the bill was introduced, and the actual vote. Only the opposition Partido Nacional (PN) abstained.
The Honduran Congress approved Honduras' adhesion to the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas.
President Manuel Zelaya said yesterday from Colombia, where he is on an official visit, that he was happy to receive the new and thanked the president of the Honduran Parliament for his support as well as those lawmakers who gave their support.
Central America is blessed with natural resources and has a population of approximately 35 million people.
Nonetheless, poverty is a merciless scourge. 50% of Guatemala's population is in the poverty threshold. Nicaragua is the second poorest country in the Americas, surpassed only by Haiti. 8 out of every 10 Nicaraguan live on less than $2 per day, and 48% are below the poverty line. Honduras barely does better than Haiti and Nicaragua.
In solidarity with the president of Bolivia, Evo Morales, president Zelaya suspended the ceremony that was scheduled for this afternoon.
On Wednesday, Bolivia ordered the American diplomatic mission out of La Paz; they are accused of instigating the violent protests that have shaken the impoverished Andean nation.
The new American representative in Tegucigalpa, Hugo Llorens, was scheduled to arrive at midday and was to be received later in the afternoon by Zelaya. It is not clear if the ambassador would still arrive in Honduras.
The ALBA Energy, Gas and Petroleum Gran-national Company will carry out the corresponding studies in the next few days.
"The ALBA Energy, Gas and Petroleum Gran-national Company will carry out the corresponding studies in the next few days, and, under the supervision of the Honduran State, will be able to carry out its production and commercialization plan" according to the document published by the local paper, Tiempo.
Private companies in Honduras rejected the decision of President Manuel Zelaya to join ALBA, saying that it is a threat to free trade.
"The private sector manifests its discord with this unilateral initiative by the Executive Power, which, not knowing our history, traditions and culture, is placing the country in an alliance that is politically, militarily and ideologically damaging to the future of the Honduran people and free trade," said a release from the Honduran Private Sector Council (COHEP).
The Minister of the Presidency, Enrique Flores Lanza, confirmed that seven Honduran companies have begun to export milk (and milk products), chicken and beef to Venezuela.
Joining the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA) will provide new market possibilities to local investors, according to Lanza.
The official said the aforementioned after being questioned about the private sector’s negative view of the mechanism which they consider counter-investment.
The President of the Honduras Board of Private Enterprise, Amilcar Bulnes, says it's better to maintain and develop the free trade agreement with the United States than to start a new process with the Bolivian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA), whose dominant member is Venezuela.
He said the board's position is that the government cannot sign a new trade agreement if it's not as good as or better than the one Honduras already belongs to.
A regional summit on the world food crisis ended in acrimony. The summit was attended by presidents or senior representatives of Mexico, some Central and Caribbean countries and the members of the Venezuelan-led Boliviarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA).
The summit, hosted by President Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua, blamed the crisis on "neo-liberal" policies, but Mexico, Costa Rica and El Salvador refused to adhere to the final declaration.