TEGUCIGALPA, HONDURAS.- The Honduran State drags a millionaire debt with Venezuela for loans and services acquired with Petrocaribe and the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of the Americas in the government of Manuel Zelaya (2006-2009).
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The ex-owner of the Finance SecretaryWilfredo Cerrato, revealed to this newspaper that the arrears only with Petrocaribe for the oil entered at that time was 59.8 million dollars until March 2022.
The debt millionaire matures in 2032 and has an annual service of 4.8 million dollars, which is the payment of principal and interest per year.
The deal with Petrocaribe was that fuel was provided to Honduras and “oil importers had to pay in cash and of that total payment, 50% remained in credit with favorable conditions and 50% in cash, 50% it is the one that is charged”, recalled the economist Julio Raudales.
EL HERALDO contacted Rixi Moncada, current Finance Minister, to ask her about the amount of the current debt, but the official did not answer the messages or calls.
Regarding the obligation with Alba, former president Porfirio Lobo Sosa was asked if they paid a penny during his administration, however, he stated that “I don’t remember that we had a debt with Alba.”
Another consulted was the former Finance Minister in the Lobo Sosa government, Héctor Guillén, who recalled that “I did not address this issue in Finance at any time nor was it touched on in the budget committee from 2010 to 2014.”
In this regard, Foreign Minister Eduardo Enrique Reina stated that “in the Micheletti regime, who knows what they used these resources for.”
On March 6, former President Zelaya Rosales declared that: “Honduras did not honor the debt for the funds that Venezuela provided us, both credits are owed and it must be said that my government did not spend those funds, they were left to the coup.”
He added that a team from the Ministry of Finance reviews how much the debt is together with the interest added over the years.
