Breaking News Venezuela: Vestey's group ranch seized by government
By Aleksander Boyd
London 08.01.05 | Various sources report that El Charcote ranch, owned by British Vestey group, was seized this morning by Venezuelan authorities and the army. This is the first illegal seizure that the Chavez regime conducts against private property owned by foreign groups. With this precedent, will anyone be intrepid enough to invest in Venezuela?
This act by the Venezuelan government seems to be a rather neat strategy geared at deviating international attention from graver issues, for let us not forget that, earlier in the week, the affair of the capture of a 'Venezuelan naturalised' top FARC leader in Caracas blew in the regime's face like a petard. In the meanwhile, unnoticed, legislation is being pushed to criminalise anti-Chavez political opinions. It's a pragmatic move of Chavez really, whom does he prefer to antagonise a British Lord or a bunch of Colombian assassins who roam freely in Venezuela? In three days time, when the BBC and other major news conglomerates pick up upon the issue of the ranch seizure, Chavez will have made ammends with the FARC and Lord Vestey will be tranquilised with some revolutionary rhetoric.
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