"And I'll pay them with paper, too. Don't think I'll pay them with hard cash."

[keith in RI]

http://news.ino.com/headlines/?newsid=689675808372790

Venezuela's Chavez sends troops to rice processors
1 hour, 24 minutes ago
(AP:CARACAS, Venezuela) President Hugo Chavez on Saturday ordered troops to intervene in Venezuelan rice processing businesses, saying some have balked at producing under regulated prices.

"This government is here to protect the people, not the bourgeoisie or the rich," said Chavez, ordering military authorities to "take control of and intervene in all of these businesses that process rice in Venezuela."

Chavez said some companies had threatened to paralyze production, but any rice processing plants that did so would be expropriated.

"I don't have any problem expropriating," he said. "And I'll pay them with paper, too. Don't think I'll pay them with hard cash."

Chavez did not spell out what the intervention might involve or how long it would last.

He has often threatened to go after suppliers he has accused of hoarding food supplies to sell later at inflated prices.

A year ago, he set his sights on Empresas Polar, Venezuela's largest food producer, calling it a "clear example" of the kind of business that is ripe for takeover.