March 16, 2005
© 2005 WorldNetDaily.com
In a dramatic step toward Cuban-style communism, the government of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says it will seize more than 270,000 acres of private property and redistribute it to the poor.
Since his election in 1998, Chavez has led an "agrarian reform" effort, including a 2001 land law aimed at narrowing the gap between the country's rich and poor, the Voice of America reported.
The government has argued unused land would be restributed, but critics say the 2001 law violates property rights and paves the way for illegal land grabs.
Radio Netherlands correspondent Cees Zoon said the government finally is beginning to implement its program of expropriating land from the country's major landowners.
"Although President Hugo Chavez once spoke of a 'war against the landed estates,' the government now carefully avoids using the word 'confiscation,'" Zoon writes. "It is simply 'retaking' land which, while it has always been 'public property,' was dubiously 'occupied' by private landowners and businesses."
A 32,000-acre cattle ranch owned by a British company is one of four estates to be redistributed. The meat producer the Vestey Group insists it legally owns the property and the land is fully productive.
Zoon noted introduction of the 2001 law was one of the main factors behind the mass protests against President Chavez that led to a lengthy national strike and a short-lived coup.
"Having won last year's referendum on whether or not he should stay on as President, Mr. Chavez now feels strengthened in pushing ahead with the reform, while the opposition remains deeply divided," Zoon said.
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