CARACAS, Monday July 18, 2005 | Update
President Hugo Chávez monitors renewed operations in Cumaná cocoa manufacture (Photo: Miraflores press office)
SARA CAROLINA DIAZ
EL UNIVERSAL
All Venezuelan state companies will become "social production
companies" to create "community" production, service and delivery
units, President Hugo Chávez said during his TV and radio
show "Hello, President" last Sunday in Cumaná, the capital
city of eastern Sucre state.
While urging private parties to engage in the new economic-social
model, the ruler claimed that state basic companies, and other
companies including public utilities, Caracas subway, airline
Conviasa and army branches "have been just capitalist companies"
and should become social production units.
According to the president, state oil company Petróleos
de Venezuela (Pdvsa), is already in line with the social production
model. "State companies should set the example," he alleged.
"Every company should turn into a social production unit (¿)
Every state production item should change to production and
community service units." President Chávez explained that
the proposed model is under the guidelines of the 21st socialism.
Companies "different from traditional capitalist corporations,
where owners are the only beneficiaries" are intended for the
purposes of profit sharing and support of social projects. "Workers'
tasks should be linked to workers' lives." The new model will
be implemented in Cumaná cocoa plant, which was closed
for nine years and is to operate with the joint efforts of cooperatives
and social missions.
While clarifying that expropriation would be used as ultimate
resort, the president warned against companies closed, as they
may be subject to expropriation. "We are willing to recover
all closed companies (¿) No company would be closed regardless
of the reasons. Appropriate steps should be taken."
During the broadcast, Labor Minister María Cristina Iglesias
read out a list of companies "subject to expropriation," including
136 closed companies and 1,149 on standby. "They will have to
be expropriated as long as their owners are not ready to open
them. Agreements may be reached provided that they wish to improve
the companies, bolster workers involvement," he added.
Translated by Conchita
Delgado
04:17 PM. Western Hemisphere. "Damned empire; I curse you one thousand times; some day you will be finished off and wrecked. I curse you one thousand times, empire." This is the least that President Hugo Chávez has uttered to refer to the US government. In urging the Bolivarian Armed Forces to prepare for war, he said that a US raid on Venezuela through Colombia would trigger and spread over the region "the 100-year war."