Rescued land does not entail more output

Under the agrarian revolution, the government of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez embarked upon the construction of the socialist production model oriented towards "social property and meeting of the people's needs."

Fight against large estate is among the hubs of a project where the State seeks to grab all the means of production, including lands, with the ultimate purpose of exploiting agriculture.

The fight against large estate aims at "rescue" of the plots of land fit for agriculture and diversification of many plots of land in the hands of few growers.

Premised on the fact that all lands are the Nation ownership, the Venezuelan National Lands Institute (INTI), as instructed by Chávez, started to seize private farms and convey them to the State.

In this way, since 2004, the Venezuelan State has taken hold of 3.6 million hectares that used to be private property, according to the latest numbers supplied by the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands (MAT).

More is less

The output of the farms that used to be productive at the time of the seizure has dwindled under the public administration or upon their delivery to peasants.

The national government claims that the lands rescued by the State are fully productive. The fact of the matter, however, as appears from the market and the volume of imports of meat and milk, among other agricultural items, shows otherwise.

Meat production continues falling short. In 2011, agriculture went back 0.57%, according to the MAT numbers, making it consecutive three years downward.