In this week’s roundup… President Hugo Chávez’s expropriations continue to raise the ire of multinationals, resulting in more international arbitration claims against Venezuela; pro-Chávez officials are reportedly setting up camp in Panama; $29 million goes unaccounted for in the government’s “petty-cash” fund; and Venezuelan authorities are once again pressed by human rights groups to protect freedoms.

Venezuela: when multinationals sue, The Financial Times

There’s nothing Hugo Chávez likes more than to shake his fist at the private sector. Nationalizing businesses is one of his favorite pastimes, with his Queen-of-Hearts-like cry of “expropriate it!” dreaded in boardrooms across Venezuela. But it has its consequences.

Chavez says he’s doing great, but the Venezuelan economy isn’t, Foreign Policy
Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez says he feels “great” after another dose of chemotherapy for his as-yet-unspecified cancer. If only the Venezuelan economy was in as good shape as Chávez says he is in. In fact, his vaunted “21st Century Socialism” bears an uncanny resemblance to the garden-variety 20th century kind: replete with widespread inefficiencies, declining production, and rampant shortages.

Chavez Says Venezuela to Move Against Land Holdings of Ireland’s Smurfit, Bloomberg
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez orders the removal of Irish cardboard maker Smurfit Kappa Group Plc (SKG) from all its farm land in an agricultural state as he deepens a push to seize large land holdings from private owners. Shares declined.

Are pro-Chávez Venezuelans setting up a ‘Plan B’ in Panama?, Christian Science Monitor

With Hugo Chávez’s status uncertain, some Chávistas are looking to relocate to Panama. It’s another chance for Panama to gain from other countries’ crises, as it has for more than a century.

Is $29 billion missing from Hugo Chavez’s Fonden development fund?, The Christian Science Monitor

An Excel spreadsheet of projects financed by Fonden – the “development” fund that President Hugo Chávez created and uses as his sort of petty cash fund for immediate needs goes public to show a $29 billion discrepancy.

HRW: Venezuela should protect rights activist, The Associated Press

A human rights group demanded Monday that President Hugo Chávez’s government provide protection for an activist who had to flee Venezuela after being threatened for alleging human rights abuses in prisons.

Venezuelan gov’t is urged to respect free media, El Universal
The Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), urged Venezuelan authorities to take the relevant actions to ensure free operation of media and respect for critical or dissenting expressions, in accordance with international treaties on human rights, to which Venezuela is a party.