Venezuela Governor Seizes Heinz Plant

[Minstrel Boy]

Venezuela Governor Seizes Heinz Plant

AP 09.05.2005, 03:08 PM

A state governor has ordered troops to seize an abandoned tomato processing plant owned by U.S. food company H.J. Heinz Co. in Venezuela, 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 state 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, a close ally of President Hugo Chavez, 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.

...

"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 - almost 1,000 hectares (2,500 acres) - were produced, and the closing of the business led the farm workers to go broke," Briceno told ABN.

http://www.forbes.com/business/feeds/ap/2005/09/05/ap2206346.html

:popcorn:

[liberaliraqvet26]

1. immonent domain??

thats what it sounds like.

[PeaceProgProsp]

17. eminent domain?

[joemurphy]

2. Hey! Time to rev up the engines on the gunboats! n/t

[Sanity Claws]

3. For Heinz?

the family of Kerry's wife? I don't think so.

[not systems]

4. Using land for a better economic use is the law of the land in the USA...

so no one better complain about this in the US government.

[Algorem]

5. Can Bush mustard enough troops for a ketchup war?

[Big Kahuna]

10. Good one

:rofl:

[3waygeek]

11. No but I'm sure

he relishes the thought.

[Cha]

14. Touche! To all of you!

the bushwa would use an unused Heinz catsup factory to start a war..no doubt.

[Judi Lynn]

21. It wouldn't be pretty.

[gauguin57]

30. Don't send George, send PICKLES.

*groan*

[Chicago Democrat]

6. Yellow Journalism... Wanna start a war? Use outragious headlines.

to discribe ordinary events.

An abandoned Tomato Factory? Sounds like a local issue.


I'm Steve Forbes... I'm a rich guy.

[hlthe2b]

7. Theresa needs to step up and "approve the donation..."

otherwise, these NeoCOns are going to use this for their own political gain...

[Minstrel Boy]

9. Heinz will be compensated,

so it won't be a donation.

From the article:

Venezuela's constitution says the government will respect private property but says the state may expropriate property if for public use or "social interest," as long as compensation is paid.

[Judi Lynn]

24. Thanks for pointing this out. We've had so many posts here -

probably ALL of them from visitors who have since disappeared - claiming government actions like this (by non-conservative governments) are criminal, then we have to rummage around in google to locate reading material for them to prove otherwise.

Compensation. It's important they understand this.

[TankLV]

25. The Heinz family - has divested itself of control of the company

long ago - I believe their only connection is that they still have some stock in it.

The Heinze Co. give almost all of their donations to the repuke party.

This was pointed out numerous times during the last election period.

[raysr]

8. I love it

Go Hugo!!

[Mika]

12. More "ammo" for Kerry to slam Chavez & Ven government. n/t

[emulatorloo]

13. kerry and his wife have nothing do to w heinz but you already know that

http://www.snopes.com/politics/kerry/heinz.asp

[Mika]

18. Yes I do know that

I wasn't considering the Heinz angle re: Kerry. More the Kerry anti Chavez and Ven government angle.

http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/articles.php?artno=1140




:hi:

[Frederik]

15. No blood for ketchup!

Good for them. It's inspring to see a country prioritize the interests of its people over the protection of foreign investments. This is serious heresy against neoliberal dogma.

[seemslikeadream]

16. Maybe someone wants that Cocaine bound for Iraq back or the money?

Dutch seize tons of cocaine in Rotterdam port
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) — Authorities seized 5 tons of cocaine hidden in reels of steel cable in the Port of Rotterdam last month in what prosecutors described Monday as one of the country's biggest drug busts.
The seizure was the largest in the Netherlands in terms of value, with an estimated street worth of $275 million. It was kept secret until Monday while arrests were prepared.

Eleven men and two women of six nationalities were arrested after the seizure on Aug. 3 — most of them last weekend. A 45-year-old Colombian suspect died after falling from an apartment window in Amsterdam, prosecutors said in a statement.

Prosecutors said the man died while trying to escape during a police raid, but national investigators have launched an independent inquiry into his death.

Police in Spain and Belgium have made an undisclosed number of additional arrests in the case, Dutch prosecutors said.

The 13 suspects were from the Netherlands, Colombia, Venezuela, Mexico, Greece and the United States, and their ages ranged from 15 to 50, prosecutors said.

Additional arrests were possible, they said.

The cocaine was concealed within reels of steel cable 12 feet high and 6 feet wide.

The drugs were divided between two shipping containers recorded as having been sent from Venezuela and bound for Iraq via Belgium. The cocaine was unloaded in Rotterdam.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2005-09-05-cocaine-seized_x.htm?csp=24

[PeaceProgProsp]

19. Stretch that tenuous link much farther

and it's going to snap back at you.

[NorthernSpy]

20. finally: a country that takes working class interests seriously!

I am LOVING the news coming out of Venezuela of late. And I'm loving it even more, because the conservatards hate all of this so much.

Up yours, conservatards!

[K-W]

22. Yep, so far so good.

Remarkably little real bad news, and plenty of people looking for it.

[Union Thug]

23. Go! Go! Go! Chavez!!! n/t

[GoddessOfGuinness]

26. It's not as if he's displacing anyone.

And the owners will be compensated. Why is this an issue?

[NorthernSpy]

27. exactly! this isn't a home, just a factory that was left to go to ruin

Anyone who cries over this is an idiot and a tool.

[Judi Lynn]

28. You wouldn't see the word "seize" used if a right-wing administration

had done this.

A lot of people who haven't taken the time to read believe Hugo Chavez is the one who nationalized the oil, too, although it was accomplished long before he was elected.

So much "perception molding" gets tied up in the use of extreme words, chosen to trigger an emotional response in the reader: it's simply obnoxious.

Glad to see your comments.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

29. "perception molding"

You hit that nail on the head...