Thread: Chavez sends army to rice plants

Chavez sends army to rice plants

from BBC World News Americas
Page last updated at 00:25 GMT, Sunday, 1 March 2009

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has ordered the army to take control of all rice processing plants in the country.

Mr Chavez accused some firms of overcharging by refusing to produce rice at prices set by the government.

He warned that some companies could be nationalised if they tried to interfere with supplies of the grain.

Mr Chavez - who has nationalised large swathes of Venezuela's economy - did not say how long the government intervention would last.

Major rice processors in the country include the US-owned giant Cargill and Venezuela's main food company, Polar.

Last year, Venezuela seized control of plants and offices belonging to Mexican cement giant Cemex.

In 2007, the government said it had taken control of the massive Orinoco Belt oil projects as part of President Chavez's nationalisation drive.

Announcing the move to send troops to the rice plants in a televised address to the nation on Saturday, Mr Chavez criticised the producers for failing to sell their rice at government prices.

"I have ordered the immediate intervention in all those sectors of agro-industry, intervention by the revolutionary government," he said.

Venezuela has strict price controls on staple foods such as rice and wheat

"This government is here to protect the people, not the bourgeoisie or the rich."

He said that those companies who had threatened to paralyse rice production could be expropriated.

"I will expropriate them, I have no problem with that, and I'll pay them with bonds. Don't count on me paying with hard cash," he said, without mentioning any companies by name.

The agriculture minister later confirmed that the military were in control of at least one major national producer, Primor, the BBC's Will Grant reports from Caracas.

Further interventions are expected in the next 48 hours.

In Venezuela, the government provides basic foodstuffs at low prices in state-run markets known as "mercales".

But many rice, wheat, meat and dairy producers complain that the price regulations leave them without a profit and that many are facing bankruptcy, our correspondent says.

The country's inflation levels are the highest in Latin America and, as a result, there are often shortages of items such as rice and coffee, leading to hoarding and sale on the black market.

With President Chavez recently granted the right to stand for a third term in office, he is keen to ensure the provision of cheap food to the poor is not put in jeopardy, Will Grant adds.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7917176.stm

Major rice processors in the country include the US-owned giant Cargill and Venezuela's main food company, Polar.





I saw this one coming. I'd been wondering how long it was going to be before the governments, of countries where businesses had outsourced to, decided they would seize control of those businesses.

Next they'll be cutting off the food supply to the US.

Why do I feel like a fish in a barrel all of a sudden?

We must watch Obama very carefully and keep him and his Communist regime in chaeck or our food supply will also be under Gov't control.

Originally Posted by ELE

We must watch Obama very carefully and keep him and his Communist regime in chaeck or our food supply will also be under Gov't control.

EXACTLY the reason I made this post in the first place! I wanted to see how long it would take for someone to draw the parallels...

If you want to see where the US is headed, just watch Venezuela. Research the last 5 years of the Chavez regime and do a line item comparison of our own societal regression.

It is no coincidence that one form or another of socialism is sweeping the globe in these times, and the people of most nations seem powerless (or unwilling) to resist.

Even as our "conservative" leaders bicker with the "liberal" components of government, we slowly slide to the left in all matters economic and moral. That slide will continue so long as the voice of the people remains soft or silent.

Wringing of hands and exchanging blistering criticisms in the relative comfort of private conversation will not prevail in this struggle. It is time for Americans of all races and gender to unite and speak in unison to support the integrity and identity of this once great nation. Turn aside from the distractions of race baiting, fiscal whore-mongering, and apathetic societal degeneration designed to keep us divided and thus rendered ineffectual. Instead we should be asking one another how we can help, how we can make our voices heard, and how long must we endure the indignities being visited upon us. In short, it is time we all set aside a day to march, to sit, to chant, and to call our leadership back to honoring the will of the people.

In the 60's there were hundreds of thousands of people who heard a call and answered it. The Vietnam war ended, to a large extent as a result of the public demonstrations. Some of those very people are still alive today and among us, and I'm not talking about the ones in Washington who have stolen our nation from us; I'm talking about the ones who were more morally motivated than politically so. They will still answer the call. Will the rest of America stand with them, or stay home wishing them well and watching on TV? So far it has been the latter...but I suspect times they are a'changin'. Food for thought good people...food for thought!

Don't wait around like the good people of Venezuela did to become active. Once you pass the tipping point there is no return and you just might find yourselves facing the same nightmare scenario playing itself out in Venezuela. Literally MILLIONS of people march in the streets of Caracas these days, and to no avail. Their nation has already been hijacked and the people have been subjugated. Are they happy about it? Hell no! Can they turn it around? Highly unlikely barring an act of God.

Will we be next? Want to wait and see?

All you have to do is switch obamas and chavezs names and we could be seeing this on our tv.

Originally Posted by Justonehero

All you have to do is switch obamas and chavezs names and we could be seeing this on our tv.

It probably won't be long before we ARE seeing this on our tv's........that's the scary part.