Monthly Archives: October 2010

Oct
26
2010
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VenEconomy: Anarchy, Disinformation, and Impunity

This article was originally posted by The Latin American Herald Tribune

This weekend, tweeters in Venezuela were inundated with news of the chaos and violence unleashed in the city of Mérida.

The tweets reported the anarchy and violence being wrought by the Tupamaros, an armed group sympathetic to the government, who took control of the city in revenge for the death of two of their members.

Most of the rest of the country – those who are not tweeters- were completely unaware of what was happening in Mérida. This disinformation on the violence that was spreading through this university city was the result, on the one hand, of the media controlled by the government imposing their usual information blackout on the violence into which the country is plunged, and, on the other, of the fact the few private media that still survive in Venezuela were very frugal in the information they gave on the chaos in Mérida. Some probably practiced self-censorship for fear of Conatel enforcing the Gag Law and accusing them of inciting people to violence or of generating panic.

The violence in Mérida raises a number of issues that give food for thought.

The first is that it reveals that freedom of the press is in its death throes in Venezuela. It comes as no surprise that the French NGO, Reporters Without Borders, has ranked Venezuela 133rd out of 178 countries as far as freedom of the press is concerned. This year, Venezuela dropped nine places compared to 2009.

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Oct
26
2010
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ANOTHER AMERICAN COMPANY EXPROPRIATED IN VENEZUELA: Ohio-based Owens-Illinois is latest victim of Chávez’s attacks on private property

October 26

Back home from an 11-day international trip that included stops in Russia, Iran and Syria, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez wasted no time in getting back to the business of expropriating private companies. Late Monday, Chávez announced the expropriation of the Venezuelan operations of Ohio-based, Owens-Illinois, Inc.

Owens-Illinois is a U.S. glassware manufacturer with operations in Venezuela and 20 other countries. “The expropriation is already ready of this glass company,” Chávez said. “What’s it called? Owens-Illinois. Expropriate it.”

Chávez said Owens-Illinois is “A company of American capital that for years has been exploiting American workers.”

Owens-Illinois is the latest target in a string of U.S. corporations that have been expropriated by the Venezuelan strongman. Just over three months ago, Chávez expropriated the equipment of U.S. oil services company Helmerich & Payne. American energy giants such as Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips preceded Helmerich & Payne as targets of Chávez’s expropriations. Both companies eventually pulled out of Venezuela entirely. Other U.S. companies such as Pepsi, McDonald’s, and Wendy’s have seen their private properties seized and/or harassed by Venezuela’s central government.

During the announcement of the Owens-Illinois expropriation, Chávez hinted that a list of at least 30 more companies targeted for government takeover is in the works. The latest expropriation comes on the heels of statements made by government officials stating that companies in the food sector are targets of expropriations. Venezuelan Food Minister Carlos Osorio recently named U.S. company Cargill and Empresas Polar, Venezuela’s largest food company, as possible future targets of the government’s confiscation binge.

 
Oct
26
2010
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Venezuela seizes local unit of US company

This article was originally posted by AFP

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announced the expropriation of the local affiliate of the US-based glassmaker Owens Illinois, accusing it of causing environmental damage and exploiting its workers.

The company “has had years exploiting the workers, destroying the environment” in the western state of Trujillo, “and taking away the money of Venezuelans,” Chavez said during a government event broadcast on radio and television.

Chavez added that his government has “a list with more names” of companies that will be expropriated, but gave no further details.

Owens Illinois Inc. is a leader world glass bottle maker with some 22,000 workers in 21 countries.

The US company has operated in Venezuela for 52 years, and has two plants that make bottles and containers for beer, drinks, food and liquor.

In South America, aside from Venezuela it also has operations in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, and focuses on manufacturing glass containers, according to the company website.

Since 2007, the Chavez administration has expropriated more than 347 companies in areas including electricity, banking, cement, steel, oil and food.

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