Chavez orders takeover of Smurfit Kappa lands

VENEZUELAN President Hugo Chavez ordered the removal of Irish cardboard maker Smurfit Kappa Group Plc from all its farm land in an agricultural state as he deepens a push to seize large land holdings from private owners.

“We need to remove Smurfit from every square meter in Portuguesa,” Chavez said during a phone conversation with his agriculture minister broadcast on state television.

“How long will they damage the land with those trees that dry out our rivers? We’re going to act faster, that’s an order I’m giving.”