Venezuelan soldiers take over food distributor’s warehouse

CARACAS, Venezuela – Venezuela’s largest food distributor on Thursday denounced the government occupation of a Caracas warehouse amid accusations that the company is hoarding goods.

Soldiers took over the warehouse complex used by Empresas Polar late Wednesday, just as Venezuela’s federation of brewers announced that Polar’s beer manufacturing subsidiary is shutting two of its six plants because of a lack of imported barley.

The South American oil-exporting nation is grappling with chronic shortages of all kinds of staples from sugar to toilet paper, which businesses blame on the socialist government’s economic policies.

President Nicolas Maduro has accused Polar of sabotaging the economy by hoarding goods and intentionally creating shortages, a charge the company denies. As December congressional elections approach, Maduro has been levying frequent attacks on sectors he claims are staging an economic war against Venezuelans.

Workers said the takeover was intended to provide land for new houses, another resource that has become scarce in Caracas in recent years.

Polar executive Manuel Felipe Larrazabal asked the administration to reconsider the occupation, saying it had already paralyzed the company’s supply chain in the capital.