Venezuelan government seizes control of factories as country risks economic 'explosion'

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has threatened to seize factories that have ceased production and arrest their owners after extending emergency powers amid the country’s massive economic crisis.

Mr Maduro made his remarks Saturday, ordering “all actions to recover the production apparatus, which is being paralysed by the bourgeoisie.” He added that factory owners “sabotage the country” by halting production at their plants.

The Associated Press reports that Empresas Polar, the country’s largest food and drink distributor, closed its last beer plant, claiming that the company lacked the capital to purchase the raw materials necessary to continue production.

But Mr Madero sees the actions of Empresas Polar as a deliberate attempt to destabilise the economy.

The crisis has polarised Venezuelans, many of whom are protesting for a recall of the president. According to unnamed US intelligence officials, Washington doubts that Mr Maduro will allow a recall referendum to take place this year, according to Reuters.

The left-wing president accused Washington of plotting a coup against his administration - similar to the temporary ousting of then President Hugo Chavez in 2002.

“You can hear the ice cracking. You know there’s a crisis coming. Our pressure on this isn’t going to resolve this issue,” one official told reporters..

“This is really not the case that the US is rooting for any outcome other than there not be an economic meltdown or social violence,” another said. “There are reasons for concern that over the summer as Venezuela gives importance to payments on debt over imports that these events could spiral.”

Some activists, however, suggest that the US is fanning the flames that could lead to a coup.

Opposition leader Henrique Capriles said that if Mr Maduro blocks motions for a recall, then the country’s crisis would only worsen, the AP reports.

“If you obstruct the democratic way, we do not know what could happen in this country,” Mr Capriles said at a rally. “Venezuela is a bomb that could explode at any moment.”

Former Venezuelan vice president and Maduro ally Jorge Rodriguez accused the opposition of fraud in collecting signatures calling for the recall.

“They got signatures from dead people, minors and undocumented foreigners,” he said, although these claims are denied by opposition leaders.

Mr Maduro’s Friday emergency declaration extends his powers for 60 days. While US officials speculate that he will not finish his term, which ends in 2019.