Here we go again, a government takeover of...the Hilton Hotel on a resort island! No this time it is not our government, but one that we hope is not ever emulated here, that of Venezuela. President Hugo Chavez has ordered the "acquisition by force" of a landmark Hilton Hotel on Venezuela's Margarita island, the government's Official Gazette announced.
The resort, on the Caribbean resort island of Margarita in Nueva Esparta state, was targeted for state takeover less than a month after it was used to host the Africa-South America Summit. Hugo must have liked it so much, he "decided to buy it", er, steal it.
"The acquisition by force of the real estate, furnishings, and related assets (...) of the Margarita Hilton & Suites Hotel Complex, along with the adjoining Marina have been ordered," a presidential decree in the official register read.
The resolt complex includes 280 rooms, 210 suites, a casino, stores, restaurants, offices and meeting areas, as well as the adjoining marina.
The assets will be held by the state tourism corporation Venetur, which reports to the Tourism Ministry, as part of an "urgent" effort to boost "the social development side of the tourism and hotel industries in Nueva Esparta state," the Gazette said.
It is not the first time Chavez's government has checked into a Hilton and stayed for good. As the thief in chief he has already seized the Hotel Hilton in Caracas, rechristening it the Hotel Alba, a reference to the Venezuelan-led leftist regional alliance Alianza Bolivariana para las Americas (ALBA).
In the past four years, Venezuela has implemented the nationalization of industries it sees as strategic including electrical utilities, cement, steel, oil services and banking.
In spite of all the government takeovers, the country is sliding into a deepening state of "equally poor."
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