(3) Seven commercial branches: at Barquisimeto, Caracas, Maracaibo, two in the Puerto La Cruz area, San Cristobal and Turmero, Cargill manufactures a number of branded products, as well as product ingredients, and distributes them through its own distribution network.
Cargill's branded products ... which are very well known and advertised ... include:
- Edible oil -- Vatel, El Rey, Deleite
- Pasta -- Ronco, MiMesa, Milani, Fiorentina
- Flour -- Blancaflor, MiMesa, Gold Medal
- Industrial Flour -- Rey del Norte, Flor de Guayana
- Rice -- Santa Ana Parboiled
- Cookies (through JVs) -- Xplosion, Wafermix
- Fruit juice -- Tropimax.
- Pet foods -- Dogui, Gati, Robustin
- Animal Nutrition -- Cargill owns the Purina brand of animal feed products for swine, dairy, cattle, poultry, horse, poultry, turkey, and shrimp
- acquired Molinarca (Wheat Mill and Flour Plant)
- acquired Agribrands Purina (Animal Nutrition)
- acquired Gramoven (Wheat Mill, Flour and Pasta Plant)
- acquired Halaca and Favepro (originally flour plants, which were dismantled to build our pet foods plant)
- Produsal (Salt production facility) Joint Venture agreement with Petroquimica de Venezuela "Pequiven" - (Cargill acquired 70%)
- acquired Santa Ana Rice Plant
- acquired Mavesa (was the largest edible oil products' company in Venezuela)
Cargill may be the leading food distributor ... but perhaps not the leading food producer ... in Venezuela.
It's main aim is the concentration of capital and ownership in the strategic area of staple foods production and distribution. The operational imperatives of Cargill in Venezuela aren't hard to see. First, Cargill wanted to grow itself in the structure of Venezuela's food imports: that is, Cargill wanted to be a big foreign supplier of food, for the company is not principally a food seller but also a food trader. Second, Cargill wanted an important role in agricultural production and distribution inside Venezuela. Third, Cargill wanted to brainwash or warp its Venezuelan employees, occupying middle class positions in the company into reactionary fools who would support any government in Caracas composed of US imperialist quislings or any opposition led by US imperialist quislings.
Then came the full force of the capitalist crisis which, by late 2008, devastated Cargill's financial and risk management businesses and damaged less severely its food production and distribution ventures. Only the fertilizer component of Cargill's empire prospered after the full force of crisis hit. Cargill began to talk seriously about going public, meaning selling its stock shares on an exchange to raise capital. Before the capitalist crisis, it jumped into the mortgage-backed securities fraud, but the company didn't know what it was doing ... it established hedge funds that traded in these fraudulent securities but it didn't clearly understand that these securities were about to blow up because this sector of the securities market was issuing securities for which there were never any mortgages to back up the securities.
Cargill's hedge funds did blow up and wiped out billions of Cargill's money and the money of many outsider investors (including a lot of capital that belonged to rich Venezuelans) who foolishly thought Cargill knew what it was doing.
Crisis intensifies the class struggle. The evil, so carefully concealed, in Cargill grew uncontrollable and it aimed its irrepressible hatred at the Venezuelan Revolution.
"We have met with Cargill on different occasions, trying to seek oral agreements. However, when Cargill closes its doors behind us as we leave, company operates in irregular ways. In that company, they have the idea of making money without caring about the needs of the people," said Carlos Osorio, Venezuela's National Superintendent of Silos, Warehouses & Agricultural Storage Plants.
The Revolution politely and gentlemanly told Cargill "we're going to put price controls on white rice ... so, don't sell white rice above the controlled price." BUT Cargill dyed its white rice yellow or some other color and sold it above the controlled price. Upset with the company, the Revolution returned and told Cargill "we're a democracy; so, the rule of law applies to everybody, including Cargill. You're a big US company, but you are not above the law in Venezuela ... stop selling white rice above the price controlled by law."
Cargill replied "That rice ain't white, it's yellow (or some other color)." The Revolution replied "We know you dyed it."
So, Cargill either hid white rice in Venezuela or exported white rice to other countries (Colombia?) where it sold it for whatever it wanted while the price of white rice in Venezuela rose sharply and the Revolution grew hungry for white rice. The Revolution then asked "Cargill, what do you think you're doing?"
"If I can't sell white rice here for what I want, then I won't sell it ... I'll ship it somewhere I can sell it for what I want!" Cargill said exuding counter-revolutionary arrogance.
"Get out of this rice factory, right now! " the Revolution ordered Cargill.
"But the plant is my private property," Cargill begins to bleat!
Arthur Shaw
arthur.shaw@vheadline.com
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