Administrative Minister of the Presidency Jose Ramon Peralta says that the Medina administration will never take any action that would threaten judicial security in the country. He made the statement after commenting on concerns expressed by the president of the Council of Business, Manuel Diez Cabral following the state of the nation speech on 27 February where President Medina said that the government could submit a bill for a law to tax extraordinary earnings of Barrick Pueblo Viejo gold mine. Peralta says that as well as guaranteeing Barrick’s investment the government guarantees all foreign investment in the country. He said that in making the statement the President had gone public because talks between the government and Barrick had been going nowhere. Medina’s statement was aimed at opening up the discussions as a way of pressing the company to be more flexible when it comes to sharing earnings. He said that the President never spoke of suspending the contract with Barrick, but rather of talks to achieve equity in the distribution of the mine’s earnings.
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