Chavez Terrifies Corporations
Hugo Chavez announced plans on Monday to nationalize companies in Venezuela's telecommunications and power industries, saying: "All that was privatized, let it be nationalized." The recently re-elected president has ramped up efforts to transform Venezuela into a socialist society, while at the same time consolidating his power.
Hugo Chavez announced plans on Monday to nationalize companies in Venezuela’s telecommunications and power industries, saying: “All that was privatized, let it be nationalized.” The recently re-elected president has ramped up efforts to transform Venezuela into a socialist society, while at the same time consolidating his power.
WAIT BEFORE YOU GO...New York Times:
Mr. Chavez, who will be sworn in Wednesday to another six-year term, announced his plans at the swearing-in of his new cabinet to a cheering crowd of supporters, sending a chilling message to foreign investors.
American corporations, including Verizon Communications, have large stakes in Venezuela’s largest telecommunications company, CANTV, and its biggest publicly traded electricity company, Electricidad de Caracas.
“Let it be nationalized,” Mr. Chavez said of CANTV. “All that was privatized, let it be nationalized.”
Financial markets appeared to be caught off-guard by Mr. Chavez’s announcement, as speculators reacted with a sell-off of assets that would be affected by the decision. Shares in CANTV plunged 14 percent in New York trading. Venezuela’s currency, the bolivar, fell as much as 20 percent in black market trading [in Caracas] on Monday, traders said.
The announcement was the latest in a series of bold steps Mr. Chavez has taken since his re-election in December to consolidate his power and move Venezuela toward what he calls a socialist revolution. Mr. Chavez said he would also seek a “revolutionary enabling law” from Congress that would allow him to approve bills by decree, as well as a measure stripping the central bank of its autonomy.
This year, the ground feels uncertain — facts are buried and those in power are working to keep them hidden. Now more than ever, independent journalism must go beneath the surface.
At Truthdig, we don’t just report what's happening — we investigate how and why. We follow the threads others leave behind and uncover the forces shaping our future.
Your tax-deductible donation fuels journalism that asks harder questions and digs where others won’t.
Don’t settle for surface-level coverage.
Unearth what matters. Help dig deeper.
Donate now.
Editorial Cartoons
Editorial Cartoons
TD Original
What a falling stock market tells us about the economy — and what it doesn’t.
Editorial Cartoons
Politics
The despair of lower-income voters was seen as a political problem rather than an empirical reality.
Editorial Cartoons
You need to be a supporter to comment.
There are currently no responses to this article.
Be the first to respond.