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.
Posted on 09/05/2005 4:07:03 PM PDT by TheOtherOne
Governor Orders Venezuelan Troops to Seize Heinz Tomato Plant, Saying It Abandoned
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.
AP-ES-09-05-05 1808EDT
Be careful, Hugo. Hell hath no fury like Teresa Heinz.
Red on Red...:o)
Hey now, its just eminent domain, SCOTUS style... </sarcasm>
Don'tcha just love it when the Leftists eat their own? Hehehehehehe!
Hey, Tereza, are you gonna tell him to SHOVE IT?
"All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others."-Animal Farm
Only one solution to this predicament....9 gin soaked raisins.
NO WAR FOR KETCHUP!
Scrappleface has competition from the real world.
It's been "abandoned" for years but is only now in need of "protection" from looters?
On the other hand, LOL
NO WAR FOR KETCHUP!
Hahahah!
Yeah, you got to ask yourself would they be doing this if
Kerry was President?
Answer. "It's all Bush's fault!"
This is only a taste of things to come in South America.
As Festus Haggen might say, "Hardy, har har!"
"I'd better take this before some ... thief ... does."
Is THIS the plant in question?
I can almost hear Carly Simon singing "Expropriation."
OH MAN!!! that's where Ms. Heinze does her pickled raisins....she is gonna be mad when she goes there to get some and the building is being used by someone else....
Katie bar the door!!!>>>>>>>>>>>>makin tracts out of town....
Well, after SCOTUS affirmed the same right here, we have little to bitch about, but a question is in order.
If those industries are not working, then just what are you going to do with them? After all, they made no economic sense to operate or they would be open, so whats up?
"I will now be able to destroy the U.S. with my ketchup ICBM"
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