[China-Venezuela Joint Fund] CDB funds USD 25 million Jose Ignacio de Abreu e Lima Socialist Agriculture Project (linked to Record ID#58677, 37528)

Project narrative

On October 9, 2009, the Jose Ignacio de Abreu e Lima Socialist Agriculture Project (Spanish: Producción Agraria José Ignacio Abreu e Lima, Integral Socialista José Ignacio Abreu e Lima), a collaboration between the governments of Venezuela and Brazil, was announced by Luis Inácio Lula Da Silva of Brazil and Hugo Chavez of Venenzuela. It is named after a Brazilian soldier who fought for Venezuelan independence, and involved the planned cultivation of 35,000 hectares of soybeans, the construction of a flavored drinks plant, an animal feed processing plant, a soybean oil processing plant, a flour mill, 491 homes, recreation areas, squares, a supermarket, a school, a medical assistance center and a radio service. The total project cost exceeded USD 600 million, but most of the funding came from the governments of Venezuela and Brazil. USD 25 million for the project came from the China-Venezuela Joint Fund (see Record ID#58677) Tranche B (see Record ID#37528). The project was extended in 2014 with a completion date of December 31, 2017, although none of the production plants exceeded 1% progress. Consumable foods (texturized protein and flavored drinks plants) only advanced 0.69%; the construction of the civil works of the plant for animal feed had 0.24% progress; the construction of the plant for the extraction of soybean oil through the extrusion of the grain to obtain soybean meal and oil registered 0.67% growth; the plant for the refining and bottling of soybean oil 0.66%; the construction of boilers and installation of structures for industrial plants 0.22%; and the construction of the oil and flour preparation plant advanced only 0.37%. The project successfully completed a storage capacity of 40,000 tons. In 2009, 1,500 hectares of soybeans were cultivated. In 2010, 1,900 were planted. In 2011, the acreage increased to 3,340, and the organization had a payroll of 139 workers, 60% of whom were indigenous laborers from local communities. Capacity significantly increased in 2012, with 14,100 hectares of soybeans and 127 hectares of seed. Production peaked in 2013, with 14,958 hectares of soybeans planted out of a planned 25,000. In 2014, 229 hectares of soybeans were planted. In 2015, 1,498.13 hectares of grain were planted. In 2017, 270 hectares were in permanent mechanized agriculture. The project was implemented by the Ministry of People's Power for Agriculture and Land and INDER. The primary contractor was Odebrecht, a Brazilian multinational. According to United States federal investigations, Odebrecht paid USD 95 million in bribes for the contracts for twelve projects in Venezuela, including this project, the Tocoma dam (see Record ID#91452), and a bridge over the Orinoco river (see Record ID#58628). The project also involved the controversial expropriation of land and homes from local farmers. In 2015, the Primero Justicia party asked the comptroller to investigate Ministry of Agriculture and Land and INDER ministers involved in the project for embezzlement in Anzoátegui state.