MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

President Chavez announces nationalization of Lord Vestey’s farms, “now!”

Flag draped Chavez announcing farmland and cattle for peasants

Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez announced Sunday the nationalization of farms and cattle herds belonging to the local affiliate of British tycoon Lord Vestey’s group which also had interests in several other South American countries linked to the meat industry.

Chavez said he was determined to further advance with the “Socialist revolution” and announced plans for a new offensive against what he calls absentee land owners and their “huge estates”.

In the last five years the administration of President Chavez has taken over millions of hectares from private owners as part of his agrarian reform plans.

“I want to see all the land belonging to the ‘English company’ definitively nationalized”, said Chavez in his Sunday program “Aló Presidente”.

“I want all those lands nationalized now!, I can’t spend more on this”, he emphasized
Chavez on several occasions had announced the nationalization of Agroflora belonging to the Compañía Inglesa CA the Venezuelan subsidiary of the Vestey Group.

The group has an annual turnover of 770 million US dollars.

Last August Chavez had anticipated that if the large estates are nationalized he “would naturally pay for them”.

According to Agroflora the company has eleven cattle herds in different regions of Venezuela, Apure, Guárico and Falcón. In 2005 Chavez already took over four farms from Lord Vestey’s group but this time the new nationalization effort involves 300.000 hectares and 120.000 head of cattle.

He also nationalized Agroisleña, a branch of the group dedicated to the distribution of farm produce. The Vestey group has been in Venezuela since 1909.