Dinant letter to Jared Olson

11 November, 2021

Jared Olson wphsmun@gmail.com 26 October 2021 Dear Mr. Olson, I appreciate the opportunity to put forward Dinant’s position on the land conflicts in the Aguán, and I would be grateful if you would publish this letter and our detailed answers to your questions alongside your article so that your readers are made aware of our views. The Nation has published similar stories on the land conflicts several times in the past, and in each case we have offered our version of events. The allegations that you raise have long been discredited by even our most ardent critics. As we have stated before, over the last decade Dinant has been the subject of a number of credible and independent inquiries and investigations. Without exception, these have found no evidence that Dinant ever conducted illegal activities, used inappropriate force, or conspired against any person or organization. We refer you specifically to the International Finance Corporation’s lengthy and detailed monitoring of Dinant’s activities, the independent inquiry of Mr. Gare Smith of the law firm of Foley Hoag, and the report on Honduras by the International Criminal Court. A more accurate article on the Aguán would describe how more and more armed criminals are invading private farms, damaging businesses, stealing produce, and threatening local people and jobs; how some farms have been occupied continuously by criminal gangs for over three years without punishment; and how the constant threat of violence is damaging local economies, increasing unemployment, and forcing hard working families to migrate out of desperation. Dinant is proud of its record overall and particularly in the Aguán. We have been accepted as an Engaged Member of the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights, the first agribusiness in the world to be so honored. And since 2013-14, Dinant has prohibited its security men and women from carrying firearms at our plantations, extraction mills, and manufacturing plants - an innovative and unprecedented initiative for the region that remains popular with our guards. I repeat my invitation to you to visit Dinant’s palm oil plantations in the Aguán and Lean regions, as well as the rest of our operations sites, to witness firsthand the results of the extensive resources that we have invested in community engagement. Yours sincerely, Roger Pineda Pinel Corporate Relations & Sustainability Director Corporación Dinant, S.A. de C.V.

Dinant letter to Jared Olson

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