Posted on 01/17/2006 3:25:10 PM PST by grundle
Venezuelan authorities are prepared to seize inventories of corn meal if producers protesting price controls hoard their supplies, an official said Tuesday.
The South American country has seen coffee disappear from the shelves in recent weeks as producers refused to sell over price controls that they said eliminated profits. Officials said a 60-percent increase in coffee prices announced Monday would make coffee plentiful again.
But some corn producers also have told Venezuelan media they are dissatisfied with current price controls.
"I don't think it's necessary to go straight to expropriation, but it's an option," Food Minister Rafael Oropeza told reporters during a tour of state-operated grain silos in the southwestern state of Barinas.
He said the government is prepared "to defend the right of access to food."
Corn meal is key to Venezuelans' daily diet of "arepas," corn cakes served steaming with chicken, meat or cheese inside. It is one of many basic food products under price controls in Venezuela, where President Hugo Chavez says he is leading a socialist revolution for the poor.
Scattered sellouts of powdered milk, corn meal and sugar have been reported recently, but officials denied there were shortages at a national level and said they would make sure state-run markets are fully stocked.
The consumer protection agency, Indecu, has seized more than 150 metric tons (165 tons) of powdered milk this month from companies hoarding the products, according to its Web site.
Authorities also have seized inventories of coffee allegedly being hoarded by producers and resold at the official price.
The higher price for coffee should help ease the shortage, Light Industries and Commerce Minister Edmee Betancourt told the state-run news agency.
(Excerpt) Read more at businessweek.com ...
Not really. It tends to run through your fingers.
That is a classic! Seems like maybe once or twice a year I see something so great I print it out and paste it on the wall ---that was it!
Another Robert Mugabe.
Will these idiots never learn from history?
Personally, I never have time for idle activities. Then again, this is important.
Wow-- 31,000 links-- seems that cartoon first came out way back in 1993, thirteen years ago-- where have I been! One of the links went to a chilling thought from an advertising company-- "They may not know you're a dog but they do know when and where you last bought dog food from and how much you paid."
From the Chinese constitution, BTWAre you serious? Do you really believe that the Chinese government adheres to the Chinese constitution?Article 6 [Socialist Public Ownership] (1) The basis of the socialist economic system of the People's Republic of China is socialist public ownership of the means of production, namely, ownership by the whole people and collective ownership by the working people. The system of socialist public ownership supersedes the system of exploitation of man by man; it applies the principle of "from each according to his ability, to each according to his work".
Do you really believe that there is "freedom of speech, of the press, of assembly, of association, of procession and of demonstration" in China because the Chinese constitution says so?
I thought you were a serious poster.
Let me repeat my previous position:
Red China and Vietnam rejected the main tenet of communist economic theory, the need for banning private property. Therefore, those countries are something other than communist in their economic policies.The Communist Manifest, Lenin's tenets, and the Chinese Constitution have been rejected the the current Chinese leadership.
Private property is allowed in China, from kiosks selling CDs to huge factories. And by definition, private property is incompatible with communism.
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