Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has ordered his government to take over a rice-processing plant owned by Twin Cities-based Cargill Inc.
Chavez accused the company of failing to comply with a rule requiring distributors to print the government-imposed price on rice packages, the Associated Press reports.
Agriculture Minister Elias Jaua has been instructed to “begin the expropriation process,” AP reports.
A Cargill spokesman tells the AP that the company is working to clarify the situation. The rice-processing plant is one of 13 food-processing facilities Cargill operates in Venezuela.
