Another Attempt at Land Reform (Which Will End In Disaster)

Apparently the Venezuelan government is allowing squatters to expropriate privately owned ranches and farms in Venezuela. This policy will be a disaster in the long term. Robert Mugabe tried this in Zimbabwe and it led to widespread food shortages and the inevitable reduction in the production of the land. The reason for this is that the squatters have neither the financial means, nor the connections to keep the land producing as well as the private owners. Evidence is already mounting in the form of shortages of certain staples across Venezuela. From the article:

But the policy has produced a side effect, opponents say: It has reduced the production of sugar cane, corn, cereal and milk, contributing to food shortages that have hit Venezuelan consumers.

''Chávez's land reform has diminished sugar production,'' said Pedro Pablo Alcántara, director of the opposition party Un Nuevo Tiempo and a former representative of the National Assembly that presided over the parliamentary commission on agriculture and land.