Posted on 01/08/2005 3:43:31 PM PST by Valin
HATO EL CHARCOTE, Venezuela (Reuters) - Venezuelan troops and police have escorted local authorities on to a cattle ranch owned by Britain's Vestey Group in the first government enforcement of a rural land redistribution law that critics say threatens private property.
Dozens of national guard soldiers and police lined up under the scorching sun on the edge of the 32,000-acre (13,000-hectare) El Charcote ranch on Saturday as officials ordered land inspections as part of left-wing President Hugo Chavez's agrarian reforms for the poor.
Government officials are demanding El Charcote hand over illegally held public land and idle property under a 2001 law that allows the state to take over and redistribute farmland judged unproductive.
"We are not here to expropriate, we are here to do justice. Those with land that is not idle, who have their documents in order and who have farms in production will enjoy our support," said Cojedes state governor Jhonny Yanez.
Four helicopters buzzed overhead while the governor ordered inspections of the ranch, where officials say at least 8,650 acres (3,500 hectares) belong to the state.
Agroflora, the Vestey unit that operates El Charcote and other farms in Venezuela, said it owns the property and that the ranch is in full production. But it has welcomed the measure to clear up illegal invasions of its land by pro-Chavez squatters.
"We have completed our duties and we are ready to give them any other documents they need," Agroflora President Diana Dos Santos said at the farm in central Venezuela.
Some of the peasants on the land said they rejected the local governor's move to inspect the farm, fearing authorities could take away their plots. They appealed to Chavez for support and land titles.
SQUATTERS AND THE LAW
The British government has asked Venezuelan authorities to help resolve the invasion problems at the El Charcote ranch.
Chavez, a populist former army officer first elected in 1998, says the law is a centerpiece of his self-styled "revolution" to end inequality in the world's No. 5 oil exporter.
He says many private estates are left to waste, but critics fear the land drive is another step in turning Venezuela into a Cuba-style communist state.
At El Charcote, the land is dotted with wooden and tin shacks where poor Chavez supporters have laid claim to plots they say belong to the government.
Nearby the farm's ranch hands corral cattle on horseback.
Local state police in riot gear kept back a group of squatters who were protesting the governor's measure by trying to block a rural road running through the farm.
"The governor cannot force us out. We want to rescue the land of El Charcote that is in English hands. They are the ones who invaded this land," said Alfredo Rodriguez as peasants waved machetes and chanted "Liberate the land".
El Charcote has become a high-profile test case for the law's application since Chavez won an August referendum vowing to deepen his social reforms. Officials say since December last year they have pinpointed at least 10 million hectares of idle land, some of it on private estates.
But local ranchers say the latest measures to hunt out unproductive private estates is riding roughshod over the law as local authorities ignore due process.
The land law was one of a dozen reforms implemented in 2001 that triggered nearly three years of political conflict including a brief coup and a crippling oil strike, until Chavez strengthened his mandate by winning the August recall vote.
© Reuters 2005. All Rights Reserved.
Oh, golly. Shades of that nutcase in Zimbabwe. Chavez must be copying him. What a bad, bad man.
Here is another example of Government authorized and sanctioned legal thievery.
Have a nice day and the very best to you and yours.
Semper Fi
Tommie
Great minds think alike.
This will most likely be sanctioned by the UN.
I am old enough to actually remember some press about Evita at the time. WHAT A PHONEY. Her hubby gave shelter to escaped nazis from Croatia and Germany. ugh.
It was such a lovely example of bread and circuses while she lived like royalty. My post was not a compliment.
GREAT! I have way too much stuff anyway. I feel so gratful that the elites (who are so much smarter and care more than me) are giong to take care of me.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.