CARACAS: The Venezuelan President, Hugo Chavez, has ordered the army to take control of rice processing businesses, saying some have baulked at producing under regulated prices.
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"The Government is here to protect the people, not the bourgeoisie or the rich," said Mr Chavez, ordering military authorities to "take control of and intervene in all of these businesses that process rice in Venezuela".
In a televised address on Saturday, Mr Chavez said some companies had threatened to paralyse production, but any rice processing plants that did so would be expropriated.
"I don't have any problem expropriating," he said. "And I'll pay them with paper bonds, too. Don't think I'll pay them with hard cash."
Mr Chavez did not say what the intervention might involve or how long it would last.
The Agriculture Minister, Elias Jaua, confirmed that the military was in control of at least one big national producer.
Venezuela has Latin America's highest inflation rate. Mr Chavez has often threatened to go after suppliers he has accused of hoarding food to sell at inflated prices.
A year ago he set his sights on Empresas Polar, Venezuela's largest food producer, calling it a "clear example" of the kind of business that is ripe for takeover.
Associated Press
