Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez on Saturday ordered the army to seize control of all the rice processing plants in the country temporarily, citing the failure of the rice processing companies to sell their products at the government-set prices as the reason for his decision.
"I have ordered the immediate intervention in all those sectors of agro-industry, intervention by the revolutionary government," Chavez said in a nationally telecast address on Saturday. "This government is here to protect the people, not the bourgeoisie or the rich."
Chavez also warned that he would nationalize the country's rice industry if the rice processing companies tried to further interfere with supplies of the grain.
"I will expropriate them. I have no problem with that and I'll pay them with bonds. Don't count on me paying with hard cash," he added.
In the past, Chavez has nationalized several private companies in the country, including plants and offices belonging to Mexican cement giant Cemex and the massive Orinoco Belt oil projects.
His latest move could affect rice-processing mills owned by U.S. food giant Cargill and Venezuela's main food company, Grupo Polar, and it comes after Chavez won a referendum last month, allowing him and other elected officials to serve an unlimited number of terms in office.
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