Venezuela, Nicaragua Sign Accords

Venezuela and Nicaragua have signed a series of agreements during a visit by President Hugo Chávez to the Central American nation. Venezuela has assigned $430 million to Nicaragua in projects covering energy, health and education. The lion’s share – or $340 million – is accounted for by cheap oil supplies, while $20 million goes towards capitalizing a branch of Venezuelan development bank Bandes in Managua. This is the second time Chávez has visited Nicaragua since the election of Daniel Ortega last year.