Venezuelan President Huge Chavez has ordered the expropriation of the largest privately owned steel producer in Venezuela. This is the latest in a series of national takeovers of private companies. This is part of Chavez's strategy to transform Venezuela into a socialist state. The steel producer, Siderurgica del Turbio SA, or Sidetur, produces 835,000 metric tons of steel a year. They produce things like steel beams, angles, and flats, which are sold domestically and internationally. Sidetur produces 40% of the rebar used for construction in Venezuela. Chavez ordered soldiers to guard the company's seven plants and urged employees to cooperate with officials rather than protesting the takeover.
Last week, Chavez ordered the takeover of the Venezuelan subsidiary of a US-based glass container manufacturer. Earlier this month, Chavez announced plans to take over a farm supply company. Chavez has expropriated dozens of privately owned companies since he took office in 1999. Business leaders and opponents say that these expropriations scare off investors and that this is hurting the economy. Chavez has said the government will pay fair compensation for these companies.
I understand policies that nationalize a country's natural resources. Many low- to middle-income countries that are rich in natural resources tend to be taken advantage of and have their resources exploited. The corporations (often foreign) that take over these resources benefit greatly from the resources, while the people of the country continue to live in poverty (despite living in a sea of vast natural resources). A lot of times the corporations that took over the rights to natural resources did so under shady circumstances or got a contract for far below the value of the resources. So I understand when different countries in Latin America have a leftist president that introduces policies to nationalize these industries. The leaders make mining and oil extraction a national industry so that the country and the people are the ones benefiting from the profit of these resources (i.e., they own and benefit from their own resources). However, I'm a little wary of governments taking over manufacturing. It seems like governments are not as well-equipped to do this, and these types of companies are usually better kept in private hands. There's too much of a legacy of poorly-run state manufacturing industries. (Full Story)
According to a Defense Department survey given to active-duty and reserve troops, a majority of service members would not object to serving and living with openly gay service members. Not surprising, there were service members that responded that they object strongly to the idea of serving with gay service members and said they would quit the military of the policy changed. The details of the survey are not known because the results have not been publicly shared. The survey was sent to 400,000 troops, but military officials did not say how many completed the survey. Though, according to the Pentagon, at least 103,000 completed the survey just days before it was due. (Full Story)
Brazil has elected their first female president. Dilma Rousseff was hand-picked by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (Lula) to be his successor. Rousseff was Lula's chief of staff and also served as energy minister. Lula was a very popular president, and political analysts believe that Rousseff winning indicates the voters' loyalty to Lula and their desire to keep the country going in the direction that Lula had set out during his eight years of presidency.
President-Elect Rousseff will take office January 1. One thing that is interesting about Rousseff is that in the 1960s she was a Marxist guerilla. She joined the rebel movement when Brazil was ruled by a military dictatorship. The military at the time labeled her an urban commander, but she said her role was political and not violent. As she said, "I wore thick glasses, and I did not shoot very well." She was captured by security forces in 1970 and was tortured. She was released three years later and then finished her studies in economics. She then managed the finances of Porto Alegre municipality and the energy policies of the Brazilian state Rio Grande do Sul. She joined the Workers' Party and got the attention of Lula, one of the party's most prominent members. He picked her to be his energy minister in his first term. She later became his chief of staff. (Full Story)
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