logo-loader

General Motors Co poised to take legal action after Venezuelan car plant is illegally seized

Last updated: 09:14 20 Apr 2017 EDT, First published: 04:14 20 Apr 2017 EDT

generalmotors
General Motors has has a plant in Venezuela for around 70 years

General Motors Co. (NYSE:GM) revealed its General Motors Venezolana plant in Venezuela had been seized by the authorities amid intense protests against the South American country's government.

In a statement the US car giant said the move was an "illegal judicial seizure of its assets".

General Motors did not provide details about the seizure, reportedly saying only that vehicles and other assets had been taken from its facilities in Valencia - the country's third largest city. It has vowed to take legal action.

It comes amid a worsening economic crisis in  Venezuela under socialist President Nicolas Maduro.

The country's economy shrank by 18% last year the third consecutive year of recession and unemployment is now set to surpass 25%.

The country is no stranger to such antics. Large parts of its economy have been nationalized since former President Hugo Chavez rose to power in 1999.

Under him the state took control of private oil, telecommunications, energy and cement businesses.

In 2015, Ford Motor Co (NYSE:F.) wrote off its investment in Venezuela and took a $800 million pre-tax writedown.

A year earlier, Venezuela has announced what it called a "temporary" takeover of two plants belonging to US cleaning products maker Clorox which had left the country.

BenevolentAI advances novel ulcerative colitis treatment through Phase 1a trial

BenevolentAI (OTC:BAIVF) chief scientific officer Dr Anne Phelan joins Proactive's Stephen Gunnion with positive safety data from the Phase 1a, first-in-human, clinical study of BEN-8744 in healthy volunteers. Phelan explained that BEN-8744 is a potent, selective PD10 inhibitor, uniquely...

1 hour, 47 minutes ago