Posted on 01/17/2006 3:25:10 PM PST by grundle
Venezuelan authorities are prepared to seize inventories of corn meal if producers protesting price controls hoard their supplies, an official said Tuesday.
The South American country has seen coffee disappear from the shelves in recent weeks as producers refused to sell over price controls that they said eliminated profits. Officials said a 60-percent increase in coffee prices announced Monday would make coffee plentiful again.
But some corn producers also have told Venezuelan media they are dissatisfied with current price controls.
"I don't think it's necessary to go straight to expropriation, but it's an option," Food Minister Rafael Oropeza told reporters during a tour of state-operated grain silos in the southwestern state of Barinas.
He said the government is prepared "to defend the right of access to food."
Corn meal is key to Venezuelans' daily diet of "arepas," corn cakes served steaming with chicken, meat or cheese inside. It is one of many basic food products under price controls in Venezuela, where President Hugo Chavez says he is leading a socialist revolution for the poor.
Scattered sellouts of powdered milk, corn meal and sugar have been reported recently, but officials denied there were shortages at a national level and said they would make sure state-run markets are fully stocked.
The consumer protection agency, Indecu, has seized more than 150 metric tons (165 tons) of powdered milk this month from companies hoarding the products, according to its Web site.
Authorities also have seized inventories of coffee allegedly being hoarded by producers and resold at the official price.
The higher price for coffee should help ease the shortage, Light Industries and Commerce Minister Edmee Betancourt told the state-run news agency.
(Excerpt) Read more at businessweek.com ...
Yep, that'll work. It worked in,.... uh,....
Of course, and the Soviet Union proved how well centralized control works. This just in...the Soviet Union collapsed.
I see that Chavez has hired Willie Green as his economic advisor.
Yeah! Right!
Same old story.....
I thought he hired that bum Harry Belefonte.
We have to continue to push for free trade the world over.
red tide rising in the south
"I don't think it's necessary to go straight to expropriation, but it's an option," Food Minister Rafael Oropeza told reporters during a tour of state-operated grain silos in the southwestern state of Barinas.
He said the government is prepared "to defend the right of access to food."
And naturally, if you have a right to access food, why
naturally you must access the labor needed to grow it.
Venezeula, the Zimbabwe of south america!
Economics 101. :-)
The grabbing of supplies will work in the short term. Just wait until the domestic production of food stuffs falls right off the charts. It's the inevitable outcome of economic engineering by commies. Just look at Zimbabwe.
Only a harebrained dictator can create corn scarcity in an oil-rich country, with the oil barrel over $60.
Oh that silly Bolivarian "free-trader" Chavez. What silly free-market scheme will he think of next?
Hace muchisimo tiempo desde comi una areapa.
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