BOGOTA, COLOMBIA — Venezuelan armed forces occupied 32 sugar plantations Thursday, the latest in a wave of takeovers that some say is a bid by President Hugo Chavez to regain political momentum and reverse his recent slide in the polls.
The farms in Lara state were taken over by army units at the request of the Chavez government's National Land Institute, or INTI. The institute in recent years has handled the takeover of thousands of acres of farmland and turned them over to worker cooperatives.
The government last week said it would seize privately owned cement manufacturers, and Wednesday it said it would "renationalize" Sidor, one of Latin America's largest steel factories. A 1998 privatization placed Sidor in the control of an Argentine-Italian joint venture.
INTI President Juan Carlos Loyo told reporters that the farm seizures were ordered after inspections showed 80% of them were idle.
However, the local association of sugar growers said at a news conference that the farms were productive and that they would fight the "militarization" of their crops.
The seizures are part of Chavez's "socialism for the 21st century" agenda, in which he is using Venezuela's oil riches to transform the economy. But they also show the challenges facing him and his Bolivarian Revolution, and it is unclear whether replacing private enterprise with state-financed worker cooperatives and other measures will succeed at reviving his popularity.
Critics said the takeovers appear politically motivated as Chavez strives to regain favor with the public and shift blame to the private sector for food and housing shortages and inflation.
With state and local elections scheduled for November, Chavez is attempting to demonstrate strength, observers said.
The president has seen his approval rating plummet to 37% in March from 50% last June and as high as 66% in December 2005, according to Alfredo Keller & Associates in Caracas, Venezuela.
Chavez suffered his first setback at the polls in December when he lost a voter referendum that would have expanded his power and enabled him to run indefinitely for reelection.
The inflation rate last year exceeded 20%, the highest in South America. Basic foodstuffs such as milk, chicken, beans and cooking oil often are difficult to buy.
In January and February, Chavez scored public relations coups by brokering the release of six hostages held by the Colombian rebel group the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.
