...orders from Chavez for local governors and military commanders to apply a 2001 land law that gives the government the power to take over and redistribute privately owned estates judged to be idle or unproductive... This is no different than what is going on here in the US.
State and local governments are using the power of eminent domain to confiscate "unproductive" private property and selling it to Wal-Mart and others that will provide more tax revenue for the government.
"This is no different than what is going on here in the US. State and local governments are using the power of eminent domain to confiscate "unproductive" private property and selling it to Wal-Mart and others that will provide more tax revenue for the government."
That's bad, but there *is* a difference: you have to be paid the appraised Market Value for any land that is taken via Eminent Domain in the U.S.
Chavez ain't paying the Brits for what he just took.
Another difference is that you'll get your day in court in the U.S. Many a land owner has prevailed in such hearings, too.
Again, that's a distinction from Venezuela today.