In a televised speech on Tuesday Venezuela's oil minister Rafael Ramirez told workers they must support the president's socialist agenda or be suspected of conspiring against the revolution. (Forbes)

Ramirez warned workers that if they do not join the state-run unions or socialist community groups they would be fired from their jobs.  Further, Ramirez instructed the country's major oil company, PDVSA, to comply with Chavez's wishes to support social works projects and sell oil to China. (AP)

"By now there should not be one single counter-revolutionary left in the heart of the oil trade unions. We must stay on alert," Rafael Ramírez, the oil minister and head of PDVSA, said in [the] televised speech. (Guardian UK)

The Obama administration, along with Congress, is taking a decidedly similar path with American businesses.  Just as Chavez has been taking control of private industry such as food companies, electricity, telecommunications, media, steel and more, the United States has been taking control of the auto industry, banking, investments, etc.

Community organizations and unions such as the ACLU, SEIU, ACORN, UAW and others have enormous power and influence over their members, often securing millions of dollars in campaign contributions for elected officials.  Those elected officials are then lobbied heavily to produce legislation in favor of growing these organizations.  It's a form of the "you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours" game that has been all too prevalent in Washington as of late.

A congressional bill that is flying somewhat under the radar as the nation focuses on the Sotomayor confirmations, the death of Michael Jackson and the latest contestants kicked off So You Think You Can Dance, is the so-called Employee Free Choice Act, also known as Card Check.  Defined simply, this bill would allow unions to coerce employees to join the union by taking away their secret ballot, or be repeatedly harassed by union bosses.  More on the act here.

Chavez has openly discussed his pleasure with the Obama administration as it heads down a path to socialism.  Obama seems to be taking Chavez's play-by-play instructions seriously as he and congress attempt to overhaul health care insurance and completely take over the energy industry.

Americans take note: So goes Venezuela, the US is sure to follow.

According to the AP, "President Chavez of Venezuela ordered the expropriation of a rice-processing plant owned by American food giant Cargill, Inc. on Wednesday because the company allegedly was not distributing rice at prices imposed by the governement."

Pricing in Venezeula for products such as rice, chicken, and sugar are controlled by the government and must be clearly marked on packaging.  70-95% of a non-government owned company must be products that fall under government price control.

Mark Klein, a Cargill spokesman in Minneapolis, said the company is respectful of the Venezuelan government's decision and expects an opportunity to clarify the situation.

"Cargill is committed to thte production of food in Venezuela that complies with all laws and regulations.  The rice mill was designed excluseively to manufacture Parboiled rice, which is the company has dones at this site for the last 7 years and elsewhere in the country for 13 years." he wrote in a statement emailed to The Associated Press.*

From an article in the International Herald Tribune, a subsidiary of the New York Times:

"I warn you this revolution means business," said Chavez, whose government has struggled with lower oil income and minor food shortages this year.

The anti-U.S. president, who has nationalized swaths of the economy, is popular among the poor for pressuring companies to produce cheap goods and for government programs that provide subsidized food in city slums.

The moves to tighten the government's grip over the food supply were criticized by the private sector and many economists who say the state distorts the supply chain and contributes to food shortages.

Chavez, an ally of communist Cuba, recently seized some rice mills belonging to Polar, Venezuela's largest private business, after accusing the food industry of skirting his price controls and failing to produce enough cheap rice.

Chavez has often followed through on his nationalization threats, taking over oil, electricity, steel, cement and telecommunications companies. Sometimes, however, threatened companies have averted seizures by bowing to Chavez's demands.

It isn't yet clear if Cargill will have to make changes to the other 12 food processing plants throughout the country and remains fervent that they will "respect" the government's decisions and follow the law of Venezeula.