...Dinant recognizes that the Bajo Aguán has, for many years, experienced severe and persistent violence linked to organized crime and illegal land occupations. We express our deepest sympathy to all victims of violence in the region, including members of campesino cooperatives, community leaders, and human rights defenders, as well as to our own employees.

At the same time, Dinant unequivocally rejects allegations that it has committed, directed, supported, financed, or benefited from acts of violence or human rights abuses in the Bajo Aguán or anywhere else.

These allegations are grave and have been repeated over many years, yet they remain unsupported by evidence. Allegations related to violence and land conflict in the Bajo Aguán have been examined by multiple credible national and international bodies, including the International Criminal Court, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the United States Department of State, and international financial institutions. None has found evidence that Dinant committed human rights abuses or engaged in unlawful violence. The continued repetition of allegations that have already been examined and rejected by competent, independent authorities does not render them fact.

Several of the publications cited by the Resource Centre describe violence carried out by “armed groups” and imply that private companies, including Dinant, collude with or benefit from such actors. Dinant categorically rejects this. Dinant has no relationship with criminal organizations or irregular armed groups and does not finance, direct, tolerate, or protect any group engaged in violence, intimidation, or illegal activity. Any suggestion that Dinant benefits from insecurity in the Aguán is fundamentally illogical: violence endangers our employees, disrupts operations, destroys livelihoods, deters investment, undermines the rule of law upon which legitimate business depends, and results in substantial financial losses to the company through stolen agricultural produce...