Venezuela's Polar Defends Itself As Chavez Moves In

[naaman fletcher]

http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20100217-716652.html?mod=WSJ_World_MIDDLEHeadlinesEurope

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CARACAS (Dow Jones)--Venezuelan food company Empresas Polar on Wednesday defended its right to maintain warehouses in the western city of Barquisimeto, after receiving an unexpected eviction notice from the government.

In a statement from the company, Polar said it met Wednesday with Governor Henry Falcon of Lara state to argue its case against the government of President Hugo Chavez, who announced Saturday he wants the food company to relocate its warehouses from an area of Barquisimeto to make room for a new public housing project.

Polar said the warehouses in question sit in an industrial, nonresidential area, and have been there for 45 years. It added that the distribution center has all its permits in order, and said the proposed project wouldn't fix the housing problem anyway.

Polar is one of Venezuela's most popular companies, selling everything from rice to beer, and its popularity with consumers has perhaps kept it from being nationalized by President Hugo Chavez, who is on a declared mission to make the country socialist.

Chavez has used nationalization laws to take over companies as well as entire sectors of the economy in recent years, including the coffee and cement sectors and big portions of the banking and oil sectors.

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Why do these fascists think they know better than Chavez where a food distribution center should be located?

[Bicoastal]

1. Wish I knew if your editorial at the bottom was sarcastic or not...

...around here, it's hard to tell.

[bemildred]

2. WSJ tends to be full of shit. Just saying ... nt

[Enrique]

3. that's certainly not the way things are done in the U.S.

I guess Polar has the right to close up shop in Venezuela if they don't like the way business is done there.

Just like the way American workers have the "right" to quit if they don't like the way the company treats them.

[classysassy]

4. We have problems

here in our own country,why do all of the right wing rags jump on Chavez,oh I see you are repeating your masters orders.?