Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez warned that his government could expropriate some milk plants to confront shortages, singling out Italy-based Parmalat SpA and Swiss-based Nestle SA.
Chavez mentioned the two companies -- both of which have operations in Venezuela -- during his weekly program on Sunday, saying such companies sometimes "pressure" Venezuelan farmers to obtain their milk for export.
"It's no use for us to be setting up plants [if] then there is no milk for the plants because Parmalat or ... Nestle take it all away,"" Chavez said. "That's where I say this government has to tighten the screws."
If companies ensure a supply through "blackmail, offering money up front" while leaving state-run plants without enough milk, "that's called sabotage," Chavez said.
He added that in such cases, "the plants must be taken over and expropriated."
Sporadic shortages of basic goods like milk, chicken, flour and sugar have irritated consumers for months, and the problem has been considered a political liability for Chavez since he lost a vote last year on constitutional changes that would have let him run for re-election indefinitely.
Critics blame government price controls and a poor investment climate, while the government notes that strong economic growth has boosted demand for meat and milk.
Chavez also accused his opponents of plotting to ensure food shortages by hoarding supplies ahead of state and local elections in November.
"We're facing an economic conspiracy and we're obliged to act," he said, withing giving details.
In another measure, Chavez announced the government is raising its government-set consumer price for rice by 31 percent as an incentive to help boost rice production. Rice farmers will see even larger increases while benefiting from subsidies, he said.
Venezuela has long imported most of its food and Chavez's government has found itself hard-pressed to change that. He said on Saturday the government will create a US$500 million fund to boost the dairy industry.
PROVOCATIVE: Chinese Deputy Ambassador to the UN Sun Lei accused Japan of sending military vessels to deliberately provoke tensions in the Taiwan Strait China denounced remarks by Japan and the EU about the South China Sea at a UN Security Council meeting on Monday, and accused Tokyo of provocative behavior in the Taiwan Strait and planning military expansion. Ayano Kunimitsu, a Japanese vice foreign minister, told the Council meeting on maritime security that Tokyo was seriously concerned about the situation in the East China and South China seas, and reiterated Japan’s opposition to any attempt to change the “status quo” by force, and obstruction of freedom of navigation and overflight. Stavros Lambrinidis, head of the EU delegation to the UN, also highlighted South China Sea
SILENCING CRITICS: In addition to blocking Taiwan, China aimed to prevent rights activists from speaking out against authoritarian states, a Cabinet department said The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday condemned transnational repression by Beijing after RightsCon, a major digital human rights conference scheduled to be held in Zambia this week, was abruptly canceled due to Chinese pressure over Taiwanese participation. This year’s RightsCon, the world’s largest conference discussing issues “at the intersection of human rights and technology,” was scheduled to take place from tomorrow to Friday in Lusaka, and expected to draw 2,600 in-person attendees from 150 countries, along with 1,100 online participants. However, organizers were forced to cancel the event due to behind-the-scenes pressure from China, the ministry said, expressing its “strongest condemnation”
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said it expects its 2-nanometer (2nm) chip capacity to grow at a compound annual rate of 70 percent from this year to 2028. The projection comes as five fabs begin volume production of 2-nanometer chips this year — two in Hsinchu and three in Kaohsiung — TSMC senior vice president and deputy cochief operating officer Cliff Hou (侯永清) said at the company’s annual technology symposium in Silicon Valley, California, last week. Output in the first year of 2-nanometer production, which began in the fourth quarter of last year, is expected to
Taiwan’s economy grew far faster than expected in the first quarter, as booming demand for artificial intelligence (AI) applications drove a surge in exports, spilling over into investment and consumption, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday. GDP growth was 13.69 percent year-on-year during the January-to-March period, beating the DGBAS’ February forecast by 2.23 percentage points and marking the most robust growth in nearly four decades, DGBAS senior official Chiang Hsin-yi (江心怡) told a news conference in Taipei. The result was powered by exports, which remain the backbone of Taiwan’s economy, Chiang said. Outbound shipments jumped 51.12 percent year-on-year to
RSS