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Venezuela takes over Kimberly-Clark plant

After K-C had to stop production because they could not get raw materials:

“Kimberly Clark will continue producing for all Venezuelans and is now in the hands of the workers,” Labor Minister Oswaldo Vera said Monday in a televised address from the company’s plant in central Aragua state, before signing an order to take it over. The labor ministry claims Kimberly Clark had violated Venezuelan law by firing over 900 workers without consulting the government.

And why was that? (emphasis added)

Strict currency controls prevent companies in Venezuela from buying dollars with local earnings.

“It doesn’t matter who’s running the factory,” said Henkel Garcia, director of the Caracas business consultancy Econometrica. “The bottom line is that there are no raw materials that anyone can afford to import.“

Venezuela’s President Says Citibank Will Close Government Accounts Amid Financial Crisis; Citibank says

The lender has decided to stop correspondent banking and servicing some accounts in the South American nation, New York-based Citigroup said in an e-mailed statement. The firm said the decision “is not a reflection of our commitment” to the country, and that it will continue discussions with the administration of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

As I had posted last month, Venezuela doesn’t have enough money to pay its oil drillers.

Miguel Octavio posts on Myths And Realities Of The Distorted Venezuelan Economy Part II; bottom line,

The economy is simply trapped in the hands of an incompetent, inefficient and corrupt Government that has tried to control everything.

Daniel posts the Diary of Venezuelan [sic] businesses demise

The Colombia-Venezuela Border: Open To Smugglers, Closed To The Desperate.

On Sunday, 30,000 Venezuelans crossed into Colombia to buy food

after Venezuela opened their common border to allow its people to buy food and medicine, officials say.

The frontier, closed by Venezuela last August as part of a crime crackdown, was to open for 12 hours.

…

Last week, about 500 Venezuelan women broke through the border controls in search of food.

The surprising thing is that they returned to Venezuela at the end of the day – as Jaime Bayly said last night, it shows they still believe in the regime.

UPDATE
I just remembered that chavismo introduced Bolivarian “kotex” three years ago.

Linked to by Hot Air. Thank you!

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  1. […] The potential for jokes is endless, but it’s no laughing matter for Venezuelans. Thanks to an onerous currency policy, the Kimberly Clark production facility in Caracas could no longer afford to buy the necessary raw materials for the manufacture of its sanitary products. After laying off 900 workers because of the lack of work, the Maduro regime seized the plant on behalf of the “workers,” the Wall Street Journal reported last night (via Fausta’s Blog): […]

  2. […] The potential for jokes is endless, but it’s no laughing matter for Venezuelans. Thanks to an onerous currency policy, the Kimberly Clark production facility in Caracas could no longer afford to buy the necessary raw materials for the manufacture of its sanitary products. After laying off 900 workers because of the lack of work, the Maduro regime seized the plant on behalf of the “workers,” the Wall Street Journal reported last night (via Fausta’s Blog): […]

  3. […] a potential for jokes is endless, but it’s no laughing matter for Venezuelans. Thanks to an onerous currency policy, a Kimberly Clark production facility in Caracas could no longer afford to buy a necessary raw materials for a manufacture of its sanitary products. After laying off 900 workers because of a lack of work, a Maduro regime seized a plant on behalf of a “workers,” a Wall Street Journal reported last night (via Fausta’s Blog): […]