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Roatán, Islas de la Bahía, 1 febrero, 2023. La presidenta de Honduras, Xiomara Castro, ha dicho en una declaración pública televisada que Honduras no tiene "nada que negociar" con los inversionistas de las ZEDE. Pese a la negativa del Gobierno de Castro a negociar, el Grupo Próspera reitera que su objetivo es encontrar soluciones y seguir adelante con sus inversiones en Honduras, amparado por el derecho Hondureño e internacional. 
Los comentarios de la Sra. Castro vienen luego de que Honduras ha tomado pasos para derogar aspectos del marco legal de las zonas especiales de desarrollo económico (ZEDEs) aunque Honduras previamente garantizó que el marco legal de las ZEDE se mantendría en vigencia para las ZEDEs existentes durante muchas décadas. 
La conducta del Estado Hondureño generó una controversia internacional con los inversionistas estadounidenses del Grupo Próspera. Tras repetidos esfuerzos para encontrar una solución amistosa, Honduras Próspera Inc. y sus afiliadas presentaron demandas ante el Centro Internacional de Arreglo de Diferencias Relativas a Inversiones (CIADI) contra el Estado de Honduras para proteger sus inversiones y derechos adquiridos. No obstante, los demandantes del Grupo Próspera han reiterado multiples veces su voluntad de negociar dentro de un marco internacionalmente aceptado. 
Según Erick A. Brimen, Director Ejecutivo de Honduras Próspera, Inc.: 
"Próspera lamenta la negativa por parte de Honduras a entablar negociaciones. Lo que buscamos es seguir invirtiendo en Honduras a fin de traer prosperidad y nuevas oportunidades al país. Próspera tiene el pleno derecho de seguir operando en Honduras bajo el régimen legal de las ZEDE durante el período completo de estabilidad jurídica de 50 años tal como lo había garantizado Honduras. Nuestro deseo es que se respeten los derechos adquiridos y el Estado de Derecho y hacemos un llamado al gobierno para que y cumpla con sus obligaciones, lo cual a la vez evitaría un daño duradero a la economía y mejoraría la reputación internacional de Honduras. Cientos de millones de dólares en inversiones adicionales y decenas de miles de puestos de trabajo hondureños adicionales permanecen en suspenso debido a la continua e infundada hostilidad del Gobierno hacia las inversiones estadounidenses en Próspera ZEDE. Queremos trabajar con el Gobierno y si el diálogo no es posible entonces nuestras diferencias tendrán que resolverse en el marco del arbitraje internacional que manejan nuestros abogados de White & Case LLP.” 
 Para más información, póngase en contacto con medios@prospera.hn

Honduras no tiene intención de negociar pero Próspera busca seguir adelante

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El tiempo para evitar un arbitraje internacional se está agotando. Honduras Próspera reitera la necesidad de establecer un diálogo formal con el Gobierno de Honduras bajo prácticas y protocolos internacionales que son habituales en procesos de diálogo entre inversionistas y Estados, que benefician a ambas partes y que son indispensables para encontrar una solución amistosa. 
Para lograr conversaciones constructivas y productivas, las partes deben formalizar un acuerdo de no divulgación (“NDA”) que proteja las posiciones legales de ambas partes y les permita conversar entre sí con entera confianza, creando un ambiente donde las partes pueden compartirse información mutuamente y debatir potenciales soluciones sin temor a perjudicar sus posturas legales ante un potencial proceso de arbitraje. El diálogo bajo condiciones de “no divulgación” y “sin perjuicio” es una práctica internacional habitual e incluso es recomendada por el Centro Internacional de Arreglo de Diferencias Relativas a Inversiones (CIADI) en sus Notas Prácticas para el Uso de Demandados.
Reiteramos que el Estado de Honduras ha garantizado la estabilidad y vigencia del marco legal de Próspera ZEDE por un periodo de 50 años, independientemente de si las reformas constitucionales o la Ley Orgánica de las ZEDE fuesen derogadas. Es evidente que el derecho nacional e internacional respalda las inversiones de Honduras Próspera y la operación de Próspera ZEDE, las cuales se amparan en las decisiones de los tres poderes del Estado de Honduras (Ejecutivo, Legislativo y Judicial), expresadas mediante decenas de instrumentos y actos jurídicos, incluyendo la ratificación de tratados internacionales, la emisión de sentencias de la Corte Suprema de Justicia y la aprobación de reformas constitucionales, leyes especiales, actos administrativos, contratos de estabilidad jurídica y autorizaciones de inversión. 
El modelo de negocio de Honduras Próspera, desplegado a través de la plataforma legal de Próspera ZEDE, ha logrado la generación de más de 1,100 empleos hondureños directos e indirectos y el establecimiento de alrededor de 100 nuevas empresas innovadoras nacionales e internacionales.
Confiamos que sólo a través de una mesa de diálogo bajo los estándares antes descritos lograremos evitar un arbitraje internacional y alcanzar una solución amistosa que nos permita seguir invirtiendo en Honduras y generando tan necesitadas oportunidades de empleo para la población hondureña.

Honduras Próspera reitera necesidad de diálogo bajo prácticas y estándares internacionales

On October 13, 2022, <a href="https://www.hagerty.senate.gov/press-releases/2022/10/13/hagerty-and-cardin-urge-state-department-to-encourage-honduras-to-honor-legal-guarantees-with-respect-to-u-s-investments/" target="_blank">United States Senators Bill Hagerty (R-TN) and Ben Cardin (D-MD) issued a bipartisan warning</a> that “[a]ny direct or indirect expropriation of U.S. investments in Honduran Economic Development and Employment Zones would be regarded as a direct assault on the guarantees of CAFTA-DR and surely trigger a devastating loss of private sector confidence.”
Senators Hagerty and Cardin emphasized that U.S. investment in Honduran Economic Development and Employment Zones (ZEDEs) is guaranteed 50-years of legal stability under CAFTA-DR. The Senators also declared an intention to consider augmenting the U.S. investor protections of the Hickenlooper Amendment if the Honduran Government continued to disregard its obligations under CAFTA-DR. The Hickenlooper Amendment is a U.S. law that directs the President to suspend all aid to countries that engage in the expropriation of U.S. investments.
Senators Cardin and Hagerty, both members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, underscored that the failure to respect the Rule of Law in regard to U.S. investment in Honduran Economic Development and Employment Zones could jeopardize the huge job and economic growth opportunities in Honduras. Billions of dollars of private investment in Honduras, and the Partnership for Central America itself, are at imminent risk of being sidelined if the 50-year legal stability guarantee protecting U.S. investment in ZEDEs is not honored. In contrast, honoring international law and legal stability agreements with U.S. investors like Honduras Próspera Inc. (the U.S.-based promoter and organizer of Próspera ZEDE) sends a strong and stable message to the investment community; and promises to be a win-win for the thousands of Hondurans currently employed in Próspera and other ZEDEs. 
Honduras Próspera seeks the prosperity of Honduras. Próspera has a regulatory system that is uniquely optimized to enable easy nearshoring. We remain committed to raising and investing $500 million in the country and creating 10,000 stable, well-paying Honduran jobs by 2025. Honduras Próspera is uniquely positioned to unite the best of Honduras with the best of the world. Already more than 500 (e)Residents and 100 businesses, many of which are U.S. based, operate within Próspera ZEDE and are creating jobs and opportunities for Hondurans. More and more U.S. companies are proactively seeking to relocate production and logistics facilities to Próspera from less stable parts of the world. Now is the time for Honduras to shine.
As always, Honduras Próspera Inc. stands ready to negotiate a sensible path forward on the premise of guaranteed legal stability for Próspera ZEDE investors. 
<figure><img src="/uploads/Screen-Shot-2022-10-13-at-13.53.09.png?1665691094614" data-image="711"></figure>
<figure><img src="/uploads/Screen-Shot-2022-10-13-at-13.53.22.png" data-image="712"></figure>
<a href="/uploads/Carta-ZEDE-Senadores-USA-Cardin-D-Hagerty-R-1.pdf">Carta ZEDE Senadores USA Cardin D Hagerty R 1</a>

Huge Job and Economic Growth Opportunity for Honduras at Risk If Investments Protected by CAFTA-DR Agreement are Not Respected

Honduras Próspera Inc., the U.S. promoter and organizer of Próspera ZEDE, is protected by a 50-year legal stability guarantee for its investments under international and Honduran law. Honduras Próspera remains committed to exercising its clear legal right to create 10,000 new Honduran jobs and draw US$500m in foreign investment to Honduras by 2025.
Nevertheless, this week, Congressman Luis Redondo asserted that ZEDEs approved before April 2022 cannot legally operate and have never legally operated. We regret the unfounded opinion by Mr. Redondo. Mr. Redondo’s statement does not represent an act of the National Congress of Honduras nor even an opinion of the National Congress. It is not supported by any congressional vote.
If meant to apply to Próspera, there is good reason to doubt that Mr. Redondo’s statement represents the position of the Administration of President Xiomara Castro. Mr. Redondo is not a member of the Libre Party; and the Castro Administration has repeatedly stated it is committed to respecting the Rule of Law and improving the foreign direct investment climate in Honduras to create more and better jobs. 
Próspera’s investment framework was sustained as constitutional by the Honduran Supreme Court not just once, but on multiple occasions. It was implemented by at least six legislative decrees and at least three executive decrees over ten years. The legal stability of Próspera is guaranteed for at least 50 years by legal stability agreements, international treaties, and Honduran law. No investment in Honduras can be regarded as secure if these guarantees are not honored.
Legal stability and certainty is a prerequisite for large-scale, long-term investments in the hundreds of millions of dollars, as planned by Honduras Próspera. In order to draw new foreign investment to Honduras at a scale never-before-seen, Próspera investors have been deploying a business model of delivering high integrity, high efficiency rule-of-law governance, which meets or exceeds U.S. and international anticorruption and other standards. This business model now directly or indirectly employs over 1100 local Hondurans and sustains nearly 100 innovative Honduran and international businesses.
It is time for reasonable people to prevail. Honduras Próspera remains willing to pursue a constructive dialogue with the Honduran government to find a mutually advantageous solution to any existing differences which would also be an opportunity for Honduras to enhance competitiveness, foster creativity and innovation, create opportunities for economic and social development, and enhance worker’s rights, among other goals of the CAFTA-DR, and which would send a positive message to other international investors and institutions.

The Rule of Law Protects U.S. Investment in Próspera

Architecture

The Próspera Group has every intention of proceeding confidently with plans to invest hundreds of millions of dollars and to create tens of thousands of good-paying jobs in Honduras in reliance upon its acquired rights under the ZEDE framework. For the State of Honduras to deny these rights would plainly violate its obligations under international and domestic law based on well-established legal principles. See Alejandro Escobar, The Reasonable Choice: Respecting the Powerful Investor Protections of Honduran Employment and Economic Development Zones (ZEDEs), Int’l Policy Analysis (April 18, 2022), <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1r8rTlWGG0yd2sMg2EPFJGOdJpFJOZ2lv/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank">available here.</a>

 The Honduran government has a very strong incentive to respect the legal stability of the ZEDE framework. The ZEDE framework was specifically crafted and tailored to ensure legal certainty, which is crucial to the nation’s socio-economic development, and the ZEDE framework provides for multiple layers of legal stability guarantees at all levels of the law, among which are the following:
<ul><li>Constitutional Provisions and Acquired Rights. The repeal of the ZEDE legal framework does not affect the constitutionally-protected acquired rights of ZEDE investors, which are premised on the legal personhood as well as the legal, economic, administrative, and political autonomy of ZEDEs. </li><li>Legal Stability Agreements. The Próspera Group is protected by a Fifty (50) year legal stability agreement. ZEDE Technical Secretaries are authorized to sign such legal stability agreements with investors. In case of repeal or amendment of the ZEDE framework, Article 45 of the ZEDE Organic Law nevertheless states that the rights and privileges of ZEDE investors will stay in place for the duration of their stability agreements.</li><li>International Investment Law Protection. Honduras Próspera, Inc., the Promoter & Organizer of Prospera ZEDE, is a U.S. company with rights under the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR) and the U.S.-HN Bilateral Investment Treaty, which extend to investments made in Próspera ZEDE the highest degree of legal protection in Honduras. Many other investors from other countries likewise enjoy powerful treaty rights.</li></ul>
The State of Honduras is bound by international, constitutional, and ordinary law to provide fair and equitable treatment, as well as full protection and security to investors and investments in the ZEDE framework. The ZEDE framework was built to last and specifically tailored to serve as a rule of law oasis of economic freedom and legal stability in Honduras for decades to come. 
The entire Próspera Group will continue to support the deployment of Foreign Direct Investment, national businesses, entrepreneurs, and the creation of good-paying jobs in what we believe is the world’s most advanced and innovative special jurisdiction.

Built to last: Legal Stability in the Zede Framework

Próspera ZEDE, an enhanced Special Economic Zone located on the Island of Roatán in the Western Caribbean and the Northern Corridor of Honduras, announced today that the regulation of its cutting-edge, crypto-friendly Roatán International Financial Center (RIFC) will be overseen by top experts in financial regulation, services, and law enforcement. The RIFC’s participation in the global cryptocurrency marketplace, which was nearly $2 Trillion in 2021 and is expected to surpass $30 Trillion by 2027, will be safe for Hondurans and the world.
Specifically, Próspera’s governing “Roatán Financial Services Authority” will be headed by:
<ul><li>Mr. José Luis Moncada, former President of the Honduran National Commission on Banks & Insurance (CNBS);</li><li>Dr. Riddhi Sohan Dasgupta, J.D., Ph.D., former Deputy General Counsel, U.S. Homeland Security;</li><li>Mr. Alexander Rolfe, former Senior Resolution Planning Specialist, U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC); and</li><li>Mr. Chirag Shah, former Chief Strategy Officer for the Dubai International Financial Center (DIFC).</li></ul>
“High integrity oversight will undoubtedly empower Próspera’s Roatán International Financial Center to support a powerful array of new financial institutions and services, including the region’s first FinTech Incubator,” predicted DIFC founder Chirag Shah.
Former FDIC regulator Alexander Rolfe agreed, stating, “I am excited to bring my background in U.S prudential, resolution and cross-border bank and financial regulation to Próspera; but applied in a manner that is more efficient, predictable, and customized to the modern financial system. Próspera RIFC is the opportunity for regulatory ‘tabula rasa’ or ‘clean slate.’”
“Próspera’s financial ‘Dream Team’ will ensure the jurisdiction is characterized by responsible innovation—with the integrity expected of international best practices and in full compliance with world-class KYC and Anti-Money Laundering standards,” observed Erick A. Brimen, CEO of the Promoter and Organizer of Prospera ZEDE, Honduras Próspera Inc. (a Delaware Corp.).
Próspera’s governance platform enables the full spectrum of financial services to be delivered without unnecessary friction, from Bitcoin Bonds, to fund investment, to everyday banking. In so doing, Próspera aims to break through the financial barriers that stop international investors, local governments, regional businesses, and local residents from securing and deploying the resources they need to pursue their dreams, and to create prosperity. 
# # #
For more details visit <a href="http://www.prospera.hn/">www.prospera.hn</a>. For further information contact: J. Robertson, <a href="mailto:jrobertson@prospera.hn">jrobertson@prospera.hn</a>

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