Posted on 05/03/2007 4:56:10 PM PDT by Jean S
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez threatened Thursday to nationalize the country's largest steel company and private banks unless they make national interests a priority.
In a nationally televised speech, the leftist president said he would nationalize steel maker Sidor if it continued to sell its products abroad instead of selling them to domestic industries, particularly in the oil sector.
He also announced plans for a law to force the private banking sector to give top priority to the financing of domestic companies.
If the banks flout the law, he warned, "they should leave."
The outspoken champion of "21st century socialism" and leader of the world's fifth-largest oil exporter holds the power to rule by decree for 18 months, granted in January by parliament.
Chavez said that Sidor -- a multinational steel maker that makes 60,000 tons of tubes for the oil industry -- "had created a monopoly through its relationships with other companies and they only supply the raw material to these companies, leaving us to import these tubes from China."
"That is unacceptable. If Sidor, which was privatized, does not accept from now on to change this way of operating, then they will force me to nationalize it the same way we did with CANTV," the state telecommunications firm.
Sidor was privatized in 1997 and acquired by the Latin American consortium Orinoquia, which groups Siderar of Argentina, Mexican firms Tenaris Tamsa and Hylsamex, Usiminas of Brazil and Venezuelan firm Sivensa. The Venezuelan state owns 10 percent of its shares.
The leftist governments of Venezuela, Argentina and Brazil are driving an integration process in South America, guided by their shared principles.
"A number of time we have talked about the Sidor case; some urged me to nationalize it, I said that it was Latin American investments, let's talk. There is Argentine, Brazilian capital, let's see if they can behave differently from transnationals," Chavez said.
Chavez said he had instructed his industrial and mining minister, Jose Khan, to come back with a recommendation on the steel sector within 24 hours.
The president dismissed any potential counter-proposals from the companies: "It must be done immediately."
Sidor not only must assure steel supply to Venezuela, it also must do it at "a low price," not the international price, he said.
Chavez's latest nationalization threats came two days after the government finalized control of privately run installations in the Orinoco River basin, possibly the world's richest oil fields.
The key oil move was authorized by a law that obliges transnational companies operating in the vast region to hand over 60 percent of their assets to the Venezuelan state.
After his landslide re-election in December for another six-year term, Chavez, who has been in power since 1999, has stepped up state control of strategic sectors such as oil exploration, electricity and telecommunications.
On Monday Chavez announced he was withdrawing Venezuela from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, calling them "tools of imperialism" to exploit poor countries.
Chavez warned banks Thursday they were expected to support his program.
"I invite the private banking sector to join in this effort. In any case, we are preparing a law to oblige them to do it, in case they refuse," Chavez said.
"If private banks don't want to be involved, then they should leave."
Ayn Rand is somewhere, laughing.
Su case es mi casa, Senor Chavez.
Hey, Hugo, both the bankers and their money are already in Miami.
What’cha gonnna do?
Steel manufacturers do not produce products, I am assuming this is true. Am I wrong?
simply print more/s
Dateline 2025: Brazil’s legislature today approved the construction of yet another border fence on their border with Venezuela. The three existing fences have not discouraged the starving masses from attempting to flee famine-stricken Venezuela. Hugo Chavez Jr. today decried Brazil’s newest attempt to keep his people from attempting to find food and employment in neighboring Brazil. Millions of Venezuelans already have braved the dense jungles of the border in the search for food and a chance at prosperity. Chavez also reported an increase in the expected harvest of both potatoes and turnips this year from the nation’s farm collectives. “I am glad to report today that the glorious people of Venezuela have through monumental exertion greatly decreased the numbers of their comrades who will die of starvation this year!” Ever since the collapse of the world oil markets nearly 15 years ago due to our current, cheaper fuel’s discovery, Venezuela has had very few sources of foreign hard currency with which to purchase foodstuffs from abroad. This has led to massive emigration waves to neighboring countries and has prompted those countries to take extreme measures to keep out the numerous refugees.
LOL! He will attract a great deal of foreign investors this way : )
Libertarian ping! To be added or removed from my ping list freepmail me or post a message here.
A commissar in the Soviet Union went out to one of those state collective farms, grabbed the first worker he came to and said, ‘Comrade, how are the crops?’ “’Oh,’ he said, ‘Comrade Commissar, if we could put the potatoes in one pile, they would reach the foot of God.’” “And the commissar said, ‘This is the Soviet Union. There is no God.’ and he said, ‘That’s all right, there are no potatoes.’
- Ronald Reagan
Of course, it will still be the evil capitalist pigs fault his socialist paradise is now a turd world country.
America, be prepared for the next wave from Latin America.
Venezuelans and Mexicans will have gun fights on the border to see who gets across the US border first.
Hes digging his own grave.
No one is as ruthless as that socialist Mrs. Bill Clinton!
They've been here since the turd was elected. There is a rather affluent town west of Fort Lauderdale called Weston, that is now known as Westonzuela thanks to all the Mercedes/Lexus driving anti-Chavez Venezuelans who have moved there.
The rich will always get out first.
It's the teeming hordes of poor that concern me.
Here comes the next wave of democrat voters. After all, socialism worked so well in the motherland : )
Hmm..."We'll allow you to remain a private company so long as you run at a loss." But that's OK - all the nationalized companies run at a loss anyway. Huey apparently expects Sidor to pass on the cost of domestic subsidies to the international customer. The international customer, of course, has competitive sources. There'll be folks happily shorting that stock...
sigh...Who is John Galt?
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