Economy

Venezuela’s Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro proposed that Latin American countries create a food bank to counter food supply problems and that oil profits of the region go towards a new food fund. Maduro made the proposal during the Food summit held in Nicaragua on Wednesday.

Venezuelan Planning and Development Minister Haiman El Troudi announced on Tuesday that inflation closed at 1.7 percent for April, unchanged from the previous month.

Waving red flags, more than 300,000 workers marched in Caracas to celebrate May 1, the International Day of Workers Struggle. The rally also celebrated a decree by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez increasing the minimum wage by 30%.

If a “just” price is not agreed upon this Tuesday for the nationalization of the Sidor steel plant, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez will sign a presidential decree expropriating the company, Chávez declared on his weekly Sunday talk show Aló Presidente.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez assured that Venezuela will not be affected by the world food crisis on his weekly talk show Aló Presidente on Sunday. Chavez discussed the current food crisis and explained his government’s agricultural polices that have increased Venezuelan food production.

The president of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez, announced Thursday that the regulated prices of corn and sorghum will be raised by 30% and that a new Socialist Agricultural Development Fund (FONDAS) has been launched to promote national food production.

The Venezuelan government will guarantee the job security of the 4,600 workers in nationalized cement factories, according to a statement released over the weekend by the Venezuelan Energy and Petroleum Minister, Rafael Ramírez.

The Venezuelan army occupied 32 farms in the western state of Lara last Thursday, sparking protests from local sugarcane producers, after the National Land Institute (INTI) expropriated the lands as part of the government efforts to boost national food production amidst global shortages.

Early Wednesday morning, the Vice President of Venezuela, Ramón Carrizalez, announced the nationalization of Argentine-controlled Ternium Sidor, concluding a 14-month collective contract dispute between the company and the United Steel Industry Workers Union (SUTISS).

Venezuela will arrange mixed enterprises with Venezuela’s main cement producers, in which the state will control at least a 60% share, similar to the setup with several transnational oil companies, the Venezuelan Oil and Energy Minister Rafael Ramírez clarified Tuesday.