GM says Venezuela has seized its car plant

**Brian4Liberty** · 04-20-2017, 12:12 PM

GM says Venezuela has seized its car plant
by Alanna Petroff - April 20, 2017

General Motors says it will immediately halt operations in Venezuela after its plant in the country was unexpectedly seized by authorities.

GM (GM) described the takeover as an "illegal judicial seizure of its assets."

The automaker said the seizure showed a "total disregard" of its legal rights. It said that authorities had removed assets including cars from company facilities.

"[GM] strongly rejects the arbitrary measures taken by the authorities and will vigorously take all legal actions, within and outside of Venezuela, to defend its rights," it said in a statement.

Authorities in Venezuela, which is mired in a severe economic crisis, did not respond to requests for comment.

It was not immediately clear why authorities seized the GM plant. Huge swaths of Venezuela's economy have been nationalized in the years since former President Hugo Chavez rose to power. Under Chavez, who took office in 1999, the state took control of private oil, telecommunications, energy and cement businesses.

President Nicolas Maduro has continued the tradition, while blaming the United States and its companies for Venezuela's economic and political problems.

"Government decision making is increasingly incoherent. It's difficult to understand the rationale," said Nicolas Watson, head of Latin American research at Teneo Intelligence.

Automakers in the country have struggled because they've been unable to access U.S. dollars to import parts, said Watson.

The GM plant in Valencia employs nearly 2,700 workers, but stopped producing cars in 2015 and has only been selling spare parts since then, a company spokesperson said.

GM said it would make "separation payments" to its workers.
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More: http://money.cnn.com/2017/04/20/news...-plant-seized/

**Brian4Liberty** · 04-20-2017, 12:21 PM

With few alternatives, Venezuelans take to the streets again
By Jim Wyss - April 20, 2017

Venezuela’s opposition is taking to the streets again Thursday amid a deep national crisis that has sparked weeks of sometimes deadly protests, and as the government of President Nicolás Maduro — once again — tries to draw its critics to the bargaining table.

The new marches come after a massive demonstration Wednesday left at least three dead — including a member of the security forces — and dozens arrested.

Asked about the point of the incessant marches, National Assembly President and opposition leader Julio Borges told Exitos FM radio Thursday that in a country that isn’t being allowed to vote or freely express itself, the streets are key.

The demonstrations are a way of “telling ourselves, the whole world, and those who hold power in Venezuela, that we [the opposition] are an incontrovertible majority,” Borges said.

Amid the chaos, Maduro seems to want to coax more moderate members of the opposition back into talks.

During a speech Wednesday before thousands of his own followers, Maduro said his lieutenants in the “coming hours and days” would invite willing members of the opposition “to sit down and talk about the future of the country, sit down in a national dialogue for peace.”
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More: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nati...145719174.html

"National dialogue", "National conversation", "Adult conversation". Translation: they are going to continue to screw you, and on top of that, they want to lecture you too. The left loves their marketing phrases and talking points.