Venezuela seizes a landmark Hilton Hotel

AFP ^ | October 13, 2009

[george76]

President Hugo Chavez has ordered the "acquisition by force" of a landmark Hilton Hotel on Venezuela's Margarita island, the government's Official Gazette announced Tuesday.

The facility, on the Caribbean resort island of Margarita in Nueva Esparta state, was targeted for state takeover less than a month after it was used to host the Africa-South America Summit.

It is not the first time Chavez's government has checked into a Hilton and stayed for good.

Caracas has already seized the Hotel Hilton in Caracas, rechristening it the Hotel Alba, a reference to the Venezuelan-led leftist regional alliance Alianza Bolivariana para las Americas (ALBA).

In the past four years, Venezuela has implemented the nationalization of industries it sees as strategic including electrical utilities, cement, steel, oil services and banking.

[MaxMax]

Venezuela has smelly oil, Cuba has smelly tobacco.

[GWB00]

I stayed at the Hilton on Margarita Island about a 15 years ago and it was a beautiful place.

Several years ago, I stayed at the now Government owned Hilton in Caracas. It was a total disaster, most of the guests were Cubans there to “aid” Venezuela. I felt so uncomfortable that I wanted to leave the hotel so badly.

Venezuela is a beautiful country with wonderful people, I really weep for what is happening to them and unfortunately, I see so many parallels here in the U.S.

[GeronL]

I see the parallels too. Its pretty scary.

[EBH]

Agreed. At what point does a company look at a situation and just cut their losses and get out?

At first when this started I thought the US should step in somehow to protect American interests in Venezuela. Now, as this has gone on for sometime, I feel an incident like the Hilton is just a dumb business risk.

[Damifino]

WOW! My wife and I spent our wedding night there 18 years ago. We were married on the island. Took 6 of our family members there to stay for the prior week (in a much cheaper resort down the street) We were married the day before they left - The Admiral and I stayed an additional week as a "honeymoon". We treated ourselves to the upscale Hilton for the wedding night before returning to The Decameron.

How sad that it was taken over.

[Buckeye McFrog]

all private property in that country should be equipped with a self-destruct button

[Jack Hammer]

‘...acquisition by force...’

or, in plain English, theft.

[Jagermonster]

Why any company keeps or maintains assets there is beyond me...

Would you buy it off their hands?

[Jagermonster]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valero_Energy_Corporation

[Abundy]

IF this is an American-owned company, why isn’t this an act of War?

[sionnsar]

Venezuela is a beautiful country with wonderful people, I really weep for what is happening to them and unfortunately, I see so many parallels here in the U.S.

Never been there but the Venezuelans I've known completely match your description. Unfortunately, from what little I can gather they have now been ruined by this government.