Venezuela takes over cement industry

0 Comments | AFP, August, 2008

CARACAS (AFP) — The Venezuelan government has locked up control of more than 90 percent of the domestic cement industry with its nationalization of one foreign-owned plant and pressured buyout of two others.

In the most recent of a series of state takeovers of key foreign-controlled businesses, at midnight Monday, Energy and Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez led workers and supporters to take symbolic control of the Mexican-owned Cemex plant in the eastern part of the country.

The move, after talks on a buyout failed to conclude before a midnight Monday deadline, gave Venezuela control of Cemex's operations in the country, including its 4.6 million tonnes a year capacity, half of all Venezuelan cement production.

That, placed in the hands of the powerful state oil...