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| Caribbean-Latin America |
| Red on Red in Venezuela: Government Seizes H.J. Heinz Processing Plant |
| 2005-09-05 |
| Governor Orders Venezuelan Troops to Seize Heinz Tomato Plant, Saying It Abandoned The Associated Press Published: Sep 5, 2005 CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - A state governor allied to leftist President Hugo Chavez has ordered Venezuelan troops to seize an abandoned tomato-processing plant owned by the H.J. Heinz Co., a state official said Monday. The plant in the eastern state of Monagas still belongs to Heinz but hasn't been used for years, said Angelica Rivero, a spokeswoman for the governor. "The governor decided to seize the plant so it can be protected from looters and later be put to use," Rivero said. Monagas Gov. Jose Gregorio Briceno told the state-run Bolivarian News Agency the plant changed hands several times under previous governments before Heinz purchased it in 1997 and later ceased operations. Debbie Foster, a spokeswoman for the Pittsburgh-based food company, said the plant had not been used for eight to 10 years but gave no other comment. Officials were expected to expropriate the plant, a move that would require the Venezuelan National Assembly to declare the property to be of "public interest." It wasn't immediately clear whether soldiers were posted at the plant Monday. Chavez, a close ally of Cuba's Fidel Castro who says he supports socialism, has said the government may expropriate the property of companies whose factories are idle or partially paralyzed in order to put them back to work. One nearby town, Caicara, suffered because of the actions of the "transnational monopoly," Briceno told the state news agency, known by its Spanish initials ABN. "At that time I was mayor of that town and I felt impotent, my hands tied, as 30 million kilos (66 million pounds) of tomatoes ... were produced, and the closing of the business led the farm workers to go broke," Briceno told ABN. Venezuela's constitution says the government will respect private property but that the state may expropriate property if for public use or "social interest," as long as compensation is paid. So far this year, the government has expropriated the assets of a failed paper company and an industrial valve maker. The governor's order to seize the tomato plant came as Venezuela's largest food producer, Alimentos Polar, said it was challenging the legality of a military takeover of its storage facilities in the southernwestern state of Barinas. Will Tar-ay-za tell Hugo to shove it? Is it possible that compensation was paid in advance, say, last year during the election campaign? |
| Posted by:Atomic Conspiracy |
| #7 No doubt they will be hiring unemployed Russian efficiency experts and acquiring Chinese replacement parts. |
| Posted by: Sock Puppet O´ Doom 2005-09-05 22:51 |
| #6 the government may expropriate the property of companies whose factories are idle or partially paralyzed in order to put them back to work Oh yes, I love planned economies. We should be encouraging this. Venezuela needs more ketchup factories. One on every corner! Ketchup for breakfast, lunch and dinner! People will have jobs*!!! *with a starting wage of 2 bottles of ketchup per hour. Not to mention the skeletons of the critters that got lost after they wandered into the pipes... Note to self: stay away from ketchup in Venezuela. |
| Posted by: Rafael 2005-09-05 22:41 |
| #5 Not to mention the skeletons of the critters that got lost after they wandered into the pipes... Starting up long idled plants is a mess. Assume six months of concentrated trouble shooting if there is a really good engineer on the job. Otherwise, you might as well start rebuilding from the ground up -- everything is going to break down, one breakdown causing the next until most every part has been replaced at least once. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2005-09-05 21:56 |
| #4 A plant that hasn't run in a decade. I see rusty bearings, seized compressors, crumbling gaskets... They're doing Heinz a favor. Let's see if they want any of our SuperFund sites. |
| Posted by: Darrell 2005-09-05 20:21 |
| #3 10 years ago, eh? Mr Heinz, a Rpublican business man had the plant running. Then the Democrat wife gets it and shuts it down. People loose jobs. Democrats make the Socialists look good. That is scary. |
| Posted by: RG 2005-09-05 20:16 |
| #2 How about US troops seizing the Presidential Palace claiming it was "abandoned"? |
| Posted by: True German Ally 2005-09-05 20:15 |
| #1 Hugo wants the much vaunted and totally failed command economy of Socialist states like the USSR. The communists have even partially given up on them because they don't work. He can see how well it's worked in his ideal Cuba for himself and still wants to emulate it. When and if we can gain energy independence his riches will still flow in because of all the other countries hooked on oil. We are in seeing this for the long haul (again.) Asshats never learn Socialism leads to failure. |
| Posted by: Sock Puppet O´ Doom 2005-09-05 19:40 |