Ketchup for the masses

In my growing admiration for Hugo Chavez -- though it might get me into trouble at some point -- here's another news tidbit from Venezuela:

Caracas, Venezuela, September 9, 2005 -- Venezuelan military seized a Heinz Ketchup plant in Venezuela's Monagas state last Monday. Heinz company representatives complained that the seizure represented, "a violation of property rights and free trade as well as due process." Venezuela's Minister for Agriculture and Land, Antonio Albarran, argued, though, that 80% of the plant actually belongs to the workers and that Heinz bought the plant illegally in 1996. The plant has been closed for nearly a decade, according to Albarran.

The take-over of the Heinz plant in the town of Caicara, Monagas, was carried out by Venezuelan troops at the request of the pro-Chavez state governor, Jose Gregorio Briceno. The move comes at a time that the Chavez government is investigating over 700 closed enterprises, evaluating them for their suitability for worker takeovers, via expropriation.