— Nicaragua President Daniel Ortega and Colombia's agriculture minister sparred today over whether the region should grow more crops to be used in biofuels or boost food production to feed the poor.
“For Nicaragua, it's a mortal sin to talk about biofuels,'' Ortega said today at a summit of regional leaders in Villahermosa, Mexico. “Food is what lacks in our region.''
Ortega rejected Colombian Agriculture Minister Andres Felipe Arias's comment that “even the smallest Central American countries have land to plant sugar cane.'' Arias said Guatemala had 1 million hectares (2.5 million acres) it could use to produce biofuels without jeopardizing food output, while Honduras had 200,000 hectares to devote to such crops.
Nicaragua's annual inflation rate accelerated to 21.7 percent in May on higher costs for basic foods. Wheat, corn and rice have risen to records on global markets this year because of shrinking stockpiles and more demand. World food imports will cost a record $1.04 trillion this year, $215 billion more than in 2007, the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization says.
Ortega also urged the U.S. to stop devoting farmland to biofuel crops, saying using corn to produce ethanol instead of food raised prices for the poorest families.
Colombian President Alvaro Uribe responded to Ortega by saying Colombia promoted policies to boost food output as well as increased biofuel production.
His government has wrangled with Ortega this year, criticizing him for “offensive'' comments in favor of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, the country's largest rebel group.
Mexico, Tortillas
Mexican President Felipe Calderon urged countries to grow biofuels without replacing food crops. The U.S. government's decision to give financial incentives to produce corn for ethanol has boosted corn prices in Mexico, he said.
“It affected us significantly because Mexican families consume an average of a kilo of tortillas a day, which are made of corn,'' Calderon said.
Colombia can increase its equivalent oil reserves by more than 300 million barrels if it uses idle fertile land to produce biofuel, Arias said.
