News / Venezuela

Venezuelan president orders seizure of idle factories, jailing owners

Sunday, 15 May 2016 5:08 AM [ Last Update: Sunday, 15 May 2016 5:08 AM ]

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro speaks at a rally in the capital, Caracas, May 14, 2016. © AFP

Venezuela’s president has ordered the seizure of idle factories and arrest of their owners under a new emergency decree he issued in response to the country’s economic woes and what he calls domestic and foreign threats.

Addressing his supporters at a Saturday rally in the capital, Caracas, Nicolas Maduro outlined some of the measures to be taken under the nationwide state of emergency “to recover productive capacity, which is being paralyzed by the bourgeoisie.”

“Anyone who wants to halt (production) to sabotage the country should get out, and those who do must be handcuffed,” the president said.

Maduro also ordered military drills to be held on May 21 “to prepare ourselves for any scenario,” condemning alleged plans for an “armed intervention.”

The threat of seizure of idle plants came after Venezuela’s largest food and beverage company, the Polar Group, halted production on April 30, saying it was no longer able to buy raw materials due to the government’s mismanagement.

Maduro has accused the Polar Group and some other companies of seeking to destabilize the financially-stricken country by worsening shortages of goods.

On Friday, Maduro announced a 60-day full-blown state of emergency, expanding the state of “economic emergency” he had declared in January.

He said the state of emergency is a means of fending off “threats” from within and outside the country.

Opponents of the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro take part in a demonstration in Caracas on May 14, 2016. ©AFP

However, the opposition slammed Maduro’s measure as an attempt to block a recall referendum against his administration.

Since 2014, the country has been grappling with protests against Maduro, with the opposition vigorously pushing for a recall election.

On Saturday, anti- and pro-government demonstrators hit the streets of Caracas for and against a bid to recall the president.

His critics blame him for the country’s deep recession, triple-digit inflation, and dire shortages of basic commodities.

They have been calling for his removal more vociferously since last December, when the opposition gained control of the National Assembly in legislative elections.

The Maduro government has denounced the opposition’s plans as a US-backed attempt to bring about a coup d’état in the oil-rich country that is home to 29 million people.

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