- Global Selloff From Dubai Shows Signs of Winding Down
- Dubai Stock Selloff May Bring Buying Opportunity
- Longer Lines, Fuller Carts This Black Friday
- Tiger Woods Out of Hospital After Accident
- Dubai Fallout Is a Correction, Not Another Crisis: El-Erian
- Dubai's Debt Woes Signal New Era for Creditors
- Get Paid Six Figures to Wear a T-Shirt?
- The World's Biggest Debtor Nations
- Five Tips for Buying a Foreclosed Home
- U.S. Stocks Fall on Dubai Worries
- Black Friday at Best Buy
- Strategists on Dubai: Avoid 'Rash Moves' Now
- Longer Lines, Fuller Carts This Black Friday
- Dubai Stock Market Fear Has 'Legs': Dennis Gartman
- Obama's Emission Reduction Pledge Paints Future for Autos
- Is Super Bowl Halftime Act Too Old?
- Surprising Options Trades in TiVo Shares
- EA Sports Hopes to Pump Up Sales Through Pop-Up Locations
MOST SHARED
- Tiger Woods Out of Hospital After Accident
- The Good Entrepreneur Winner
- Get Paid Six Figures to Wear a T-Shirt?
- Dubai Spooks Investors But May Bring Buying Opportunity
- Global Selloff From Dubai Woes Shows Signs of Winding Down
- Longer Lines, Fuller Carts This Black Friday
- Halftime Report: Dubai - First Ripple Of Larger Crisis?
- 8 Retailers that Gain During the Holidays
Text Size 
President Hugo Chavez said Thursday that his government has seized land owned by an Irish cardboard maker as part of a sweeping agrarian reform initiative.
The government took control of 3,700 acres (1,500 hectares) owned by the Dublin-based Smurfit Kappa Group because they were being used to grow eucalyptus, a cardboard component, rather than food in violation of Venezuelan law, Chavez said during a televised speech.
Chavez said the land in Venezuela's central Lara state would be used to plant corn and beans, but Public Works Minister Diosdado Cabello told state media that lands would be turned over to communities and government-funded neighborhood groups known as communal councils.
Smurfit Kappa Group representatives in Caracas could not be reached for comment Thursday.
Chavez launched a nationwide land reform after taking office in 1999, and a law approved by the Chavista-dominated National Assembly in 2001 empowers the state to seize underused farmlands. Critics say the initiative failed, leaving Venezuela with food shortages.
Since winning the right to seek indefinite re-election on Feb. 15, Chavez has stepped up efforts to boost state control over the economy, ordering the expropriation of a rice plant owned by U.S.-based Cargill on Wednesday. He also has called for the expansion of state-run cooperatives to further his vision of socialism.
Print
Email
- These four sectors will be the next to lead the market.
- Zhu Zhu Pets are this year's must-have toy, fetching $40 or more on eBay.
- From the why-didn’t-I-think-of-that file, we present Jason Sadler, a man whose job is wearing T-shirts.
- It may be the most unusual guide to business you'll read.
- Shopping for a gadget hound? The choices can be baffling. Here are a few that should be a hit.
- "The Who" will be the halftime act for Super Bowl XLIV on Feb. 7 in Miami. Is the NFL behind the times?
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes