What Chávez Wants, Chávez Gets
April 29, 2010
A few weeks ago, Venezuela’s largest food producer and employer, Empresas Polar, took what in most democracies would not raise any eyebrows, but in today’s Venezuela was a dramatic step. The company went to court to seek the equivalent of an injunction to stop the expropriation of one of its warehouses in the city of Barquisimeto.
Polar took the action after Chávez called for the expropriation of Polar’s property with the justification that he wanted to build homes. The all-knowing leader of Venezuela apparently ignored the fact the Polar property was in an industrial area, that the company offered other land it owned for the construction of homes in Barquisimeto, and that there were hundreds of homes projected to be built in other areas whose construction was paralyzed for various reasons.
Polar’s legal maneuvers were met with scorn by Chávez. Continuing what has become a weekly tradition, Chávez taunted and threatened Polar President Lorenzo Mendoza. “Don’t provoke me. Tell your lawyers to keep calm,” he said, hinting that a Polar protest could lead to even more expropriation. Chávez warned Polar that their legal actions would not matter because he could take the property if he wanted.
On Tuesday, Chávez followed through on his threats by issuing an official decree to forcibly expropriate the land. With this order, all procedural hurdles to seize the private property have been removed. Chávez’s declaration made no mention of compensation or assistance for the 3,200 Venezuelans who work full-time at these Polar warehouses.
What lesson should be learned from the expropriation of these seemingly unimportant warehouses? For one, it shows that the Venezuelan legal system operates at the whim of Mr. Chávez. Polar exercised its legal right to challenge in court the government taking of its property. Chávez responded by issuing a decree that makes the legal recourse taken by Polar null and void. So much for due process! It also shows that what Chávez wants, Chávez gets at any costs. No longer is the government concerned with maintaining even the facade of independence of its institutions.