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| Caribbean-Latin America |
| Chavez threatens to seize private banks |
| 2010-12-09 |
| [El Universal] Expropriations threats are latent. This time, it was the turn of private banks. "Any bank that slips up, I am going to expropriate it," a defiant President Hugo Chavez boasted on Tuesday evening. The message was specifically addressed to financial institutions that might block or delay the approval of mortgage loans to people affected by real state irregularities. "Any bank that slips up, tell me, show me the evidence, and I am going to expropriate it, whether it is Banesco Provincial, Nacional de Crédito, whichever," Chavez told a group of families, who are living in a military shelter, in an event related to the delivery of 212 mortgage loans by the Bicentennial Fund. The ceremony took place in Fuerte Tiuna and was aired by state-run TV channel VTV. After a beneficiary of a mortgage loan complained about a problem with a bank, Venezuela's President ordered the Bolivarian Intelligence Service (Sebin) and the Office of Military Intelligence (DIM) to investigate Banco Nacional de Crédito. "Please appoint some intelligence officials to investigate all these banks and their owners. In three days I want to have a map of these banks that try to complicate matters," Chavez ordered. The Venezuelan Head of State also instructed a military official to request homeowners of expropriated houses to occupy them immediately. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #4 You just gotta hope Christie gets elected prez in 2012. Governor Christie won't be ready for 2012, Mercutio. I'd hope he wouldn't even think before 2016, or even for 2020, although by then I will be seriously tempted to give him my vote -- he gets good results. He, and the other wonderful new Republican politicians, should have at least a decade of service at the national level under their belts before being given what may well be the most difficult job in the world. If nothing else, they need time to figure out what they think about the issues and get to know the key players. I would prefer they also have enough experience to have figured out how to handle the various types of opponents they will meet, and discover how they will respond to the various types of challenges they are likely to meet. The White House is not a good place to climb a very, very steep learning curve. Half the problems President Obama is dealing with are because he spent so little time at the national level. The other half are because he has never had real executive experience, either in the public or private sector. The other half, in my opinion, are his goals and principles, and the final half is his temperament. Yes, I realize what that adds up to, thus demonstrating the extent of the problem the poor man faces each morning when he wakes up. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2010-12-09 21:28 |
| #3 You just gotta hope Christie gets elected prez in 2012. Then it's "My fat guy can kick your fat guy's @ss." |
| Posted by: Mercutio 2010-12-09 16:30 |
| #2 Just remember, Oogo - eventually you'll run out of other people's money. But I'l bet they won't run out of bullets.... |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2010-12-09 16:25 |
| #1 If you have any dealings with Venezuela in any way and haven't seen the handwriting on the wall as of yet, maybe it's too late for you. Get out now with what you can. |
| Posted by: Mikey Hunt 2010-12-09 12:02 |