Leaked phone calls: Capriles just wanted to make a scandal

[Judi Lynn]

96. He may have learned a lot from his wife, Teresa, who inherited her former husbands Heinz Ketchup.

Years ago I heard Teresa's first politician husband, the Heinz heir, owned ketchup factories in Venezuela. I heard about it repeatedly since then.

Checking google quickly:

Speaking of ketchup… the Heinz Kerry’s also has a vendetta against Venezuela for nationalizing some of their Heinz factories… so don’t be surprised to see more destabilization actions against Venezuela. Obama could not have picked a worse person for this position.

http://deadlinelive.info/tag/teresa-heinz-kerry/

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Venezuelan Authorities Seize Idle Heinz Ketchup Plant
By Gregory Wilpert – Venezuelanalysis.com

Caracas, Venezuela, September 9, 2005—Venezuelan military seized a Heinz Ketchup plant in Venezuela’s Monagas state last Monday. Heinz company representatives complained that the seizure represented, “a violation of property rights and free trade as well as due process.” Venezuela’s Minister for Agriculture and Land, Antonio Albarrán, argued, though, that 80% of the plant actually belongs to the workers and that Heinz bought the plant illegally in 1996. The plant has been closed for nearly a decade, according to Albarrán.

The take-over of the Heinz plant in the town of Caicara, Monagas, was carried out by Venezuelan troops at the request of the pro-Chavez state governor, José Gregorio Briceño. The move comes at a time that the Chavez government is investigating over 700 closed enterprises, evaluating them for their suitability for worker takeovers, via expropriation.

Workers at many other factories and businesses have begun taking matters in their own hands, not waiting for the government to act in the expropriation of idle factories.

The president of the anti-Chavez industrial business federation Conindustria, Juan Francisco Mejías, said that he hopes that the government will “rectify” its action in the case of the Heinz tomato processing plant.

http://venezuelanalysis.com/news/1352

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Heinz Calls on Venezuela to Give Back Seized Ketchup Plant
By Alex Kennedy - September 6, 2005 23:20 EDT

Sept. 6 (Bloomberg) -- H.J. Heinz Co., the world's largest ketchup maker, called on Venezuelan authorities to give back a plant seized yesterday by a state governor.

Heinz bought the ketchup plant in eastern Monagas state in 1996 and shut down operations for the last few years because of a dispute with local tomato suppliers, the company's Venezuelan unit, Alimentos Heinz, said in a statement. Pittsburg-based Heinz was trying to sell the plant when Monagas Governor Jose Briceno seized it, the company said.

``We're concerned at the actions of the authorities to seize the property,'' the company said. ``We hope this situation will be cleared up shortly and the property will be returned.''

President Hugo Chavez signed executive orders in January that established the legal framework for the government to seize private properties it considers unused, and to distribute them to poor farmers and workers. Briceno seized the plant in order to reopen it, the government's Bolivarian News Agency said on its Web site. Briceno did not immediately return a message left at his office.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aW_DUNguG1FU

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However, it's a Venezuelan US opposition group in Tampa, Florida which actually boasts and takes credit for Kerry's position on Venezuela these days!

Published: Tuesday, March 23, 2004
Bylined to: Curtis Reed

Tampa-based Free Venezuela, Inc: Our goal is regime change in Venezuela

Date: Tue, 23 Mar 2004 17:39:42 GMT
From: Curtis Reed [e-mail]
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Error: It was Venezuelans in TAMPA

In David Coleman's article "Venezuela's relations with USA to improve if Bush 2 loses election this fall" you stated that Senator Kerry's statement regarding the Chavez regime amounted to "Parroting anti-Venezuelan Miami Herald propaganda."

In fact, the Kerry position statement was the result of the effort of Venezuelan-Americans from the Tampa area who contacted his camp and conducted an education campaign to be sure that Kerry understood what a threat the Chavez regime represents to US interests, regional stability, and how it endangers democracy across the hemisphere.

We have been working constantly over several years to establish good contacts with our representatives, and it was through those contacts that we made direct contact with John Kerry and delivered to him the message you will find below.

We are now in the process of publishing more Op-Ed articles, organizing round table discussions about the Chavez regime, and speaking out on nationally syndicated radio shows. Let there be no confusion: the "Miami Mafia" had nothing to do with this. It was the result of hard work by US citizens and Venezuelan expatriate organizations like FREE VENEZUELA that we influenced Kerry, and we will continue to push US policy until we achieve our goal.

Our goal: regime change in Venezuela.

Finally, let your communist friends know that their propaganda machines are failing, and the tide has turned against the Chavez dictatorship. We have convinced Democrats and Republicans alike that Chavez and his criminal henchmen are the antithesis to Democratic principles.

Have a nice day.

Curtis Reed
[e-mail]

http://www.vheadline.com/readnews.asp?id=16656
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