Venezuela: Govt to take over supermarket chain

CARACAS: Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has ordered the government takeover of a private supermarket chain, accusing the company of food hoarding amid huge lines and shortages in the crisis-hit country. Maduro did not say whether the move amounted to an expropriation, but he said the government’s PDVAL food distribution agency would take over “all service of this chain that was waging war against the population.” He did not name the company, but it is widely assumed that he was referring to Dia a Dia. Maduro, who spoke on state television, did not say if the measure would be permanent. It was the leftist leader’s latest attempt to control what he has dubbed an ‘economic war’ waged by the private sector and the opposition to destabilise the recession-hit country. He has accused companies of hoarding goods to keep “the population irritated, suffering” in order to fuel discontent against the government.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 8^th, 2015.

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