Reply #72: From one who lived in Venezuela... [View All]

If land is not productive the state can confiscate abandoned or idle land, especially if for agriculture.

If land has passed on through inheritance to any person born out of wedlock, they lose their rights to that land. This is because some family lost a huge lawsuit way before Chávez in which they wanted to get compensated for land around Lake Venezuela, Lake Maracaibo and the city of Maracaibo. They sought billions in return for their idle lands which have plenty of oil in and around them. But they had some illegitimate ancestors and lost the feud. The government won and, by extension, the people for the land did not have to come out of their reimbursement in the form of taxes. I even had family members lose land due to idleness. The government also awards huge tracts of land virtually free to those who will work it. So it goes both ways.

Land grabbing by the government and by peasants is a fact of life in Venezuela. The fact that Chávez is in power is mere coincidence.
It's an old form of US propaganda: We steam clean OUR bottles!