Workers Protest Expropriation of "Polar" Food Production Plant in Venezuela

Workers Protest Expropriation of "Polar" Food Production Plant in Venezuela
July 31, 2015

HAVANA TIMES — Workers at Polar, Venezuela's largest private food
producer, protested the expropriation of their plant in Caracas on
Thursday, after a court ordered their eviction for the building of low
cost homes, DPA reported.

The measure affects Polar's largest food production and distribution
facility in Caracas and the subsidiaries of PepsiCo, Cargill and Nestle,
which rely on Polar's distribution network.

The production plant occupies an entire city block at La Yaguara, in the
capital's south-west.

The facility is being expropriated days after President Nicolas Maduro
publicly accused Polar's owner, Lorenzo Mendoza, of supporting what he
calls an "economic war" against the people.

The workers said they will keep staging protests at the plant to oppose
the expropriation order, for which the court established a 60-day term.

Jesus Graterol, a spokesperson for the workers of PepsiCo, said the
court authorities and the National Guard troops (militarized Police)
presented the plant eviction order to facilitate the study of the land
for the building of homes as part of a government program.

Through their Twitter account (#todossomospolar), Polar employees stated
it "is regrettable that no thought is devoted to how the population of
Caracas will be affected in terms of food distribution following the
expropriation."

They declared the protest will be maintained to fight the expropriation
order and defend their jobs.

"We're barely managing to keep production going because of a lack of
hard currency [for imports] and now they want to take the distribution
center from us. We'll continue to fight," they announced.

Opposition leaders warned that this expropriation could worsen the
consumer product shortages that have forced Venezuelans to stand in line
outside supermarkets for several months.

Former deputy and opposition leader Maria Corina Machado called on
people to come in defense of Polar, pointing out that its workers
"embody our deepest aspirations to improve as a nation."

"To defend Polar is to defend our right to a prosperous, safe and free
Venezuela. To expropriate is to steal. President Nicolas Maduro has
caused a humanitarian crisis and is now intentionally making it worse,"
she stated.

The center-right opposition party Primero Justicia declared it was
"ludicrous" that the government, instead of working with the private
sector, should "stifle it, to the detriment of our people."

"The overwhelming majority of Venezuelans consider expropriations
arbitrary and unproductive," he said during a declaration. "The
expropriation of the Polar plant is the kind of radicalism that has
brought about this crisis," he added.

Recently, the government ordered private food producers to destine their
products to government distribution networks, prompting reactions from
private companies, which warned that the measure could worsen shortages.
The government reverted the order shortly afterwards.

Venezuela is Cuba's largest trade partner and closest political ally.

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