Venezuela: Chávez threatens to boot Coca-Cola
Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez threatened to throw Coca-Cola out of the country if the company does not settle a pay dispute with striking workers. In comments broadcast on state TV Feb. 4, Chávez said his government would support the strikers in their "fight against capitalism." He added: "If Coca-Cola doesn't abide by the constitution and laws then we can live without Coca-Cola. Coca-Cola is not indispensable. Who said you need Coca-Cola to live? Sugar cane juice is really good, or guava juice—I just had one."
Coca-Cola Femsa, based in Monterrey, Mexico, fell 1.6% to 95.3 pesos a share in Mexico City trading the day Chávez made his comments. Chávez also said on Feb. 2 that the government may take greater control over the bottled water industry in Venezuela and force companies such as Coca-Cola Femsa and PepsiCo to buy water from the state. (Bloomberg, Feb. 4)
The dispute comes just after Chávez marked the 12th anniversary of his coming to power. In a speech marking the ocassion, he asked Venezuelans to forgive any "mistakes" and to press ahead with his agenda of socialist revolution. He said he was confident of winning another six-year term in the next elections in 2012. He said the electoral campaign had "already begun", and was going to be "a tough one and a good one." (BBC News, Feb. 2)
See our last posts on Venezuela and the world gastronomic wars.
Please leave a tip or answer the Exit Poll.
Recent Updates
41 sec ago
20 hours 37 min ago
20 hours 41 min ago
20 hours 44 min ago
20 hours 49 min ago
1 day 20 hours ago
1 day 21 hours ago
3 days 19 hours ago
4 days 1 hour ago
4 days 2 hours ago