Posted on 01/24/2006 8:47:15 PM PST by proud_yank
JAN. 24 6:15 P.M. ET Venezuela's mining minister said Tuesday that the government was ready to take over top gold and diamond mines from foreign companies that have failed to exploit them.
Mining Minister Victor Alvarez accused unnamed foreign companies of using their mining holdings merely to speculate on the market.
"There are areas that have been kidnapped" by foreign companies, Alvarez said at a mining conference in Caracas.
Those areas will be taken back by the government so other companies can exploit them better, the minister added.
Some mining areas will be given to small-scale operators and others will be kept by the government to develop on its own, he said, declining to elaborate or identify which companies were targeted.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who says he is leading a socialist "revolution" in his country, has taken over farms, businesses and real estate deemed underutilized for redistribution. Foreign oil companies have also submitted to greater state control and higher tax and royalty payments after the government threatened to take over oil fields they operated.
Critics have accused the leftist leader of trampling private property rights, but Chavez claims his policies are justified to weaken the grip of foreign interests and the ruling elite on the country.
(Excerpt) Read more at businessweek.com ...
LOL!
My thoughts exactly!!
...and so it begins.
Those are all pretty good! What software do you use?
He still has to visit with Vladimir Putin yet.
Adobe Photoshop Elements 2.0 and MGI Photosuite 4. Both are ancient from 2001 and 02, but they work.
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