Chavez says he will use soldiers to expropriate unused farmland

[BayCityProgressive]

Venezuelan president says he will send troops to expropriate land from wealthy

07:46 AM EDT Oct 24

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez stepped up the pressure on wealthy landowners Saturday, saying he will send troops to confiscate unused farmland if large property owners refuse to give up the land to help the poor.

Outlining what he dubbed "the new stage of the revolution," Chavez declared "war against large estates," saying they are an obstacle for ensuring more equality in the oil-rich but poverty-stricken, South American country of 25 million.

Owners of large plots of land have two choices, he said: give up their land or have the army take it away.

"The second option is conflict," Chavez told supporters at a rally in the capital Caracas.

"We will take the land with army troops,"

Chavez, who enacted sweeping land reforms four years ago, has issued the warnings before. But his comments Saturday are the most strident in months.

Authorities have used the Land Law, which was passed in 2000, as their legal basis for confiscating property from wealthy landowners. The law mainly imposes strict rules on what ranchers and farmers can produce but also permits the state to grant state-owned land to the homeless.

But private landowners claim authorities have made numerous errors in classifying lands as state-owned or private. Many ranchers and business leaders fear Chavez's land reform initiative is part of an effort to establish a socialist regime in the country.

Chavez, who has been in power since 1998 and survived a recall referendum in August, said the country's elite capitalized on their connections with officials in previous governments to acquire illegal property titles.

A 1998 census shows 60 per cent of Venezuela's farmland, nearly 179,200 square kilometres, was owned by less than one per cent of the population. Th e survey said 90 per cent of farmland given to peasants in a 1960 reform program reverted to large landholders.

Chavez also told supporters he will use other legal instruments to confiscate abandoned property in the cities.

Sorry I lost the link. This is very important though, Chavez has also recently moved to nationalize The nations largest paper company.

[Voltaire]

1. A great many Americans of both parties

will believe that Chavez is wrong for seizing private property. But I think that he is correct and I wish that such a thing was possible here. The only way to get some kind of equilibrium in wealth and power is to let the rich know that their property can be seized in the name of the people and then when necessary, to seize it. Then perhaps they will cede some power before it comes to that.

Knowing rich folks, especially Americans, I tend to doubt it. So be it. Capitalism sucks. Un-regulated Capitalism sucks worse.

[bryant69]

2. Capitalism has worked better than anything else so far

I'll admit I think we need a lot more regulation--but most societies where these kinds of socialist schemes are imposed on people haven't turned out for the best.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[Voltaire]

7. True so far

But for my money I think....no....I KNOW that Capitalism is a system which at its core in order for it to work....SOMEONE must be EXPLOITED. In the long run that is never good. I think that we are too busy extoling the virtues of Horatio Alger and Donald Trump and all the other robber barons we have been tricked into worshipping all these years to understand that it is Capitalism that is killing this country because it has reached the point where there are no Americans left to exploit fully and it can no longer sustain itself.

Chavez is trying to right the wrong. Which is more than I see any politicians in this country trying to do.

[bryant69]

8. Well yeah

But once you give the government the power to take away your property for the greater good, beyond taxation, is that really a good thing?

I know that some of you are going to bring up the Income Tax example--we already take away property. True, but obstentiably that money goes to promote the general welfare. We all need roads, so we all pay for roads (and those who have a bit more pay a bit more, because that's teh only way the system is going to work). We all need schools so we all pay for schools. And so on and so forth.

This is different. This is the government saying, "Hey you, you have too much so i'm taking it away and giving it to someone else because I can." That is at least an ethically grey area.

How do you know that the person doing the deciding isn't going to feather his own nest so to speak? In previous attempts at running government along these lines the cream has not risen.

Bryant

[knowbody0]

3. what a lovely post

viva chavez. he so knocks my socks off. talk about david and goliath.

[DuctapeFatwa]

4. just chilling. almost as bad as opening clinics for the poor

Chavez has been trying for years to persuade the rich, many of them living in the US, to let people live on and farm that land.

Some of them may have to readjust their portfolios. It will be a heart-rending scene. There is even the possibility that some of them may have to get jobs. Fortunately, US oil companies are hiring.

[BayCityProgressive]

5. I fully support this move

The richest 1% of the world dont give a shit about the rest of us....why should we care if their feelings are hurt when we use the land that we worked and broke our backs on making them rich on.

[flyingfysh]

6. good for Chavez!

I would not be optimistic about the long-term success of this, since there are powerful forces arrayed against Chavez. But I hope he succeeds.