GM’s former bondholders have the same problem.
Reminds me of when Castro and his boys in Cuba seized American owned property in Cuba after their communist revolution there.
Off topic but when Obama started this reaching out to Cuba, was there any negotiation related to how Cuba siezed american property without compensation all those years ago?
Well, that’s a shame, but a risk you take when building factories in foreign countries.
GM shouldn’t concern themselves. Just pass the loss onto their customers same as all other businesses do.
I fault Gummint Motors for not seeing the hand writing on the wall a lot earlier than this and moving its operation out of Venezuela before confiscation or as much as they could get out before the move itself triggered expropriation.
Venezuela seized it. Stole it. Took it. The guy is a communist.
Communists hate private property. Look to a person’s ideology to find out what he will do.
They should have sold the plant years ago. Nothing happening you couldn’t predict. If they felt the need to stay and hope to recoup losses than its their own problem.
Perhaps they expect the Venezuelan tax payers to bail them out for failed business operations.
If I remember right, China did the same thing to them in the ‘90s and they never learned their lesson. Just keep trusting Communists. Yep.
It’s a shame a worker with some foresight couldn’t have burned the place to the ground. Infuriating that they can just take it without consequences.
I run a Christian sports equipment ministry (eternalpastime.org). In 02, 04, and 07 I went on mission trips to Valencia to do sports camps with the urban poor. We spent our days in the drug and crime infested slums doing sports camps with really poor kids in partnership with local churches. Valencia was a great city then with nice malls, restaurants, etc., but you could see how much worse it was getting as socialism spread on each trip.
There were several American companies there and they were some of the biggest employers. Chavez was using the USA as his foil; he'd be the guy to stand up to the big bully from the north. There was anti-American graffiti, but the people loved US culture, music, food, movies.
I keep up with some of my friends from VE on facebook. If anything, the news underplays how bad it is there. No shock to freepers, but socialism has destroyed everything. The rich (and their $) left the country and the middle class are now poor.
I've been on three mission trips to Cuba too. One thing I found in both countries, the church people we work with in VE hated Chavez and the Cuban Christians are no fans of the Castro regime. I had more than 1 Cuban pastor remind me (with a hint of satisfaction) that Chavez had said he hated God from deep in his guts, then he died in Cuba from stomach cancer.
Roughly a penny on the dollar. They won't get even that because Venezuela has no money to pay it.
On the other hand, GM was maintaining a factory and paying wages to workers who, due to supply, weren't making cars and hadn't been for a couple of years. It looks like Venezuela has cut their losses for them. That's socialism: everybody loses.
If CITGO is still Venz. owned, seize their assets for GM.
Is this something to go to war over maybe? Stealing US assets. Or at least warrants to targeting of certain palaces and compounds.
Did they ever consider that by building a Factory in a Totalitarian Dictatorship Socialist Utopia, that they might just LOSE EVERYTHING??
Is anyone really this Stupid?? I guess so. Hard to believe