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Chavez warns firms caught hoarding food

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez threatened on Sunday to seize control of businesses that are caught hoarding products and set his sights on Empresas Polar -- the nation's largest food producer and distributor.

If officials discover that firms sit on goods for months to later sell them at inflated prices, they "should be seized and taken under government control," Chavez said.

He called Polar a "clear example" of a business that could be taken over.

His threats came as the country struggles with sporadic shortages of some basic foods, including sugar, cooking oil, milk, black beans, eggs and chicken.

Chavez -- a close ally of Cuban President Fidel Castro -- has made similar threats in the past. However, no such takeovers have occurred so far, and many private supermarkets and food distributors continue to thrive in Venezuela.

Many leading retailers argue that currency controls established in 2003 are responsible for higher prices, because some businesses are forced to buy imports using black-market dollars at more than twice the official exchange rate.

Representatives of Polar could not immediately be reached for comment, and its offices were closed on Sunday. The company has denied hoarding goods in the past, saying it hopes to work with the government to fight shortages.

Last month, Polar complained that the National Guard stopped dozens of trucks transporting products to states bordering neighboring Colombia and seized more than 350 tonnes of food.

In a separate incident in eastern Monagas state, authorities seized 165 tonnes of corn meal and arrested the manager of Polar's local distribution center.

Owned by Venezuelan billionaire Lorenzo Mendoza, Polar started out as a brewery in 1941 and gradually diversified to become Venezuela's leading producer and distributor of food.

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