First General Motors, then Student Loans. What’s next, Mr. President?
In a Bloomberg BusinessWeek article, the most recent seizure of private industry in Venezuela was reported, with as much calm and lack of alarm as one may report on the the weather or a walk in the park.
I fear that this is where the U.S. is headed in the all too near future, given the takeover of the auto and student loan industries, and President Obama’s apparent admiration of President Chavez and all he does.
To quote from the article, which speaks for itself:
President Hugo Chavez announced Saturday the expropriation of a group of iron, aluminum and transportation companies in Venezuela’s mining region.
Among the expropriated companies is Materiales Siderurgicos, or Matesi, which is the Venezuelan subsidiary of Luxembourg-based steel maker Tenaris SA.
Venezuela’s socialist president said in a televised that his government was going to take over Matesi because “we couldn’t reach an amicable and reasonable settlement with the owners.”
Chavez said production at the company has been paralyzed since midway through last year, when Venezuela’s president announced plans to nationalize it.
Chavez said he was also going to expropriate Venezuelan-owned Orinoco Iron and aluminum-maker Norpro de Venezuela C.A., which is an affiliate of the U.S. company Norpro in association with France’s Saint Gobain, among other companies.
As well, Venezuela will take over transport companies that ship raw materials in areas southeast of Caracas. He did not name the companies.
Since coming to power more than a decade ago, Chavez has nationalized major companies in the electricity, oil, steel and coffee sectors, as well as other private businesses.
by Sherry Jarrell
Learning from Dogs 
The big American banks were paid for, but did not become the property of those who paid for them (the taxpayers). Thus they keep on not lending (In the USA or the EU). And not nationalizing what the People paid for is a violation of the most basic property code.
I do agree that saving GM the way it was done was not good (it would have been better to force them to merge with Renault, and that did not happen because GM executives asked for too much money for themselves!)
But neither is it fair to compare Obama and Chavez.
In a naive attempt to assuage exploiters of the People, Obama has proven all too sympathetic to them.
The linked article is from CSM, in April 2009, and the summum of affection between those two is a book offered by Chavez to Obama (did Obama reciprocate?)
Chavez was democratically elected four times, but now the patience of the Venezuelan people is starting to run thin. However, at this point, to describe Chavez as a sort of dictator would be tantamount to repudiate democracy, and that we do not want to do!
PA
LikeLike
Well, yet another country gradually going down the pan. Yes, multi-nationals can be a pain and greedy (they are run by humans after all), but anyone who thinks that a socialist regime run by a wise President is ultimately in the best interests of a country should take a long hard look at history, Cuba for a start or even NK.
Oil may sustain Chavez for years, but he is a wildly out of control pendulum stuck on his left swing. Bad luck, Venezuela.
LikeLike