Venezuela seizes US rice producer

[dipsydoodle]

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has ordered the expropriation of a rice mill, amid a battle with food companies over price regulation.

Mr Chavez said the mill, owned by a subsidiary of US food giant Cargill, was not distributing rice at government-set prices.

He also threatened to nationalise the country's largest food processor and private company, Polar.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7925174.stm

[Judi Lynn]

1. I've got a story for you on Cargil's high standards of business ethics!

Brazil Court Shuts Down US Soy Giant Cargill for Destroying Amazon
Written by Newsroom
Tuesday, 27 March 2007

Brazil's Environmental Agency IBAMA has shut down a huge soy processing and shipping facility erected in the heart of the Amazon rainforest. Environmental organization Greenpeace accuses the facility of being built illegally. The place will stay closed while Brazilian environmental authorities assess its ecological impact.

The facility, built by Minneapolis-based, US commodity giant Cargill in Santarém, in the northern state of Pará, has been at the center of a controversy after Greenpeace discovered that huge tracts of the Amazon were being destroyed to grow soy. which is shipped from the facility to Europe, to provide cheap feed for chicken which is then sold in fast food outlets and supermarkets.

The development is result of a request by the Federal Ministry of Public Prosecution (MPF) to "inspect and immediately stop the operations of Cargill port as well as condemn the north-American multinational for illegal operation". The Regional Federal Court (TRF, in Portuguese) confirmed the decision.

The TRF Judge Souza Prudente ordered the complete fulfillment of the decision made in 2000, which suspended all permits issued for Cargill port in Santarém. The port does not comply with the Brazilian laws which demand Environmental Impacts Assessment (EIA) for this kind of venture.

According to the MPF: "the judicial order ends the multinational's assumption of non complying with the injunction, hinder its activities in the region and ensure that the Environmental Impact Assessment to be carried out in order to have the port functioning."

According to the Federal Prosecutor in Santarém, Felipe Friz Braga, "this is a historical decision and it changes the pattern of lack of governance in the region."

The suspension of Cargill port activities in Santarém is the culmination of many years of demands by the local communities in Santarém and those who fight the expansion of soy in the Amazon. Soy and other products from the agribusiness are key drivers for deforestation, threatening huge loss of biodiversity and contributing to climate change.

"This is an important day for the Amazon rainforest and for its people. Thanks to the non-stop efforts of the Federal Ministry of Public Prosecution in Pará State, a big step forward has been taken in enforcing the responsible use of natural resources and bringing greater governance in the Amazon", said Paulo Adario, Greenpeace Amazon Campaign Coordinator in Brazil.

http://www.brazzilmag.com/content/view/8081/54/

http://www.greenpeace.org.uk.nyud.net:8090/files/images/migrated/MultimediaFiles/Live/Image/7681.jpg

[dipsydoodle]

2. Thanks for that note

Can't say I'm really surprised. It was issues in the Amazon that caused the UK p block soy imports a while ago.

[Judi Lynn]

3. So glad to hear that. Did not know about it. Thanks.

Glad someone with some moral perspective moved that decision along. There have been so FEW during the _Bush years, or maybe they were "on the run," having been "smoked out" by fascist monsters like the scum we've got here.

[EFerrari]

5. If you go to SourceWatch, one of the first things you find out

about these locusts is that they give money hand over fist to BushCo. Surprise!

[Bacchus39]

4. time for the US to seize Citgo

and I thought Hugo wanted better relations.

[dipsydoodle]

6. Not exactly

a like for like comparison - dumwit.

[Bacchus39]

7. why not?

dimwit.

[Judi Lynn]

8. He's British, he's speaking English. Learn some self-control. n/t

[junkyardbob]

9. Cargil

I tried to post a reply against Cargil, the largest privately owned ag-company in America but it evaporated
! Welcome to D.U.?

[EFerrari]

10. It wasn't deleted or you would see that. Maybe DU hiccupped.

Welcome to DU. :)

[Judi Lynn]

11. Whoa, and it was your very first post, too, junkyardbob. Things HAVE to pick up, after that start!

I'll bet most of us have been taken by surprise with that stunt, too. It gets really, REALLY hard to take when you've taken the time to write something long, or detailed, containing several links, etc.

Don't give up, just get mad! Use that anger to hone your attitude, then let the deserving parties have it but good!

Welcome to D.U.! :hi: