opinion in this regard. 113 In communications of September 4 and October 2, 2002, INA expressed its support for approval of the budget item to pay the necessary improvements in order to clear the communal lands of the Punta Piedra community of encumbrances. 114 118. On October 1, 2002, and May 14, 2003, the Punta Piedra community sent letters to the National Congress and to INA, respectively, to find out whether the budget item had been approved. 115 On May 26, 2003, INA informed the Punta Piedra community that the item had not been incorporated into its budget 116 and, on June 29, 2004, INA submitted a request to the President of the National Congress to adopt this item in order to free the land of encumbrances. 117 D.2 2006 Memorandum of Understanding, Special Agreement with the village of Rio Miel of April 20, 2007, and subsequent actions 119. To follow up on the commitments made in the 2001 Undertaking, on September 28, 2006, a “Memorandum of Understanding” was signed by the Organización Fraternal Negra Hondureña (OFRANEH) and the government authorities (hereinafter “2006 Memorandum of Understanding”) ratifying the need to comply with the commitments made concerning the Punta Piedra community as regards the approval of a budget item for freeing the territory of encumbrances 118 and the need to make a new appraisal. 120. In light of the 2006 Memorandum of Understanding, from November 30 to December 3, 2006, representatives of INA and the Attorney General’s Office entered into new negotiations with the Rio Miel inhabitants and visited the territory to update the appraisal; however the inhabitants opposed this. 119 Additionally, on January 22, February 20 and June 8, 2007, meetings were held between State authorities and OFRANEH in order to ratify the need for a new appraisal and coordinate this. 120 The meeting of February 20, 2007, was attended by a representative of the Punta Piedra Cf. Letter sent by the chairman of the Budget Committee of the National Congress to INA on August 29, 2002 (evidence file, folio 44). 114 Cf. Letters of the INA Minister-Director of September 4 and October 2, 2002 (evidence file, folios 50 and 52, respectively). 115 Cf. Letter sent by OFRANEH to the National Congress on October 1, 2002 (evidence file, folios 56 and 57) and Letter sent by the INA Minister-Director to OFRANEH on May 26, 2003 (evidence file, folio 59). 116 Cf. Letter sent by the INA Minister-Director to OFRANEH on May 26, 2003 (evidence file, folio 59). 117 Cf. Letter sent by the INA Minister-Director to the President of the National Congress on June 29, 2004 (evidence file, folios 1344 and 1345). 118 On September 28, 2006, the representatives of OFRANEH, and of various Garifuna communities, including Punta Piedra, and of the Government adopted the 2006 Memorandum of Understanding. In the Memorandum, the parties reached different agreements to obtain the adoption of the budget item to pay the compensations for the improvements made by the inhabitants of Rio Miel. Cf. Memorandum of Understanding between the Organización Fraternal Negra Hondureña (OFRANEH) and government authorities of September 28, 2006 (evidence file, folios 120, 123 and 124). 119 In this regard, the inhabitants of Rio Miel indicated that they “strongly opposed accepting it, considering it an abuse of authority, because they [were] not invaders […] [their] rights had been violated during previous governments, including them in an expansion granted to the Punta Piedra community in 1999 when [their] community was already settled on the said lands, and had been recognized by the municipality of Iriona long before. A title had been granted without conducting the corresponding field study.” Cf. Memorandum presented by the Agricultural Research and Appraisals Section to the INA MinisterDirector on December 5, 2006 (evidence file, folios 63 to 65). 120 Cf. Memorandum of January 22, 2007, on the follow-up to the commitments made in the memorandum of understanding of September 28, 2006, and Special agreement of June 8, 2007, on the follow-up to the commitments made under the September 28, 2006 memorandum of understanding (evidence file, folios 74 to 83). 113 36