Chávez Threatens To Nationalize Telephone Company August 17, 2006; Page A6
CARACAS, Venezuela -- President Hugo Chavez threatened to nationalize Venezuela's largest telecommunications company if it doesn't comply with a court order to make pension payments to former employees. In a televised speech, Mr. Chávez said he had given executives of Compania Anonima Nacional Telefonos de Venezuela, or CANTV, a "prudent" grace period to comply, but he didn't specify how long that period would be. Verizon Communications Inc. owns a 28.5% stake in CANTV, according to its last annual filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Spokesman Peter Thonis declined to comment on the situation. The Venezuelan Supreme Court ruled in July 2005 in favor of more than 3,400 unionized CANTV workers in a long-running pension dispute. The court said the workers' pensions had to be increased to take into account currency devaluations, inflation and minimum-wage increases since 1999. CANTV has contested part of the court ruling and is awaiting a study from Venezuelan authorities to determine how much it will make in back payments to retired workers. Company officials couldn't be reached for comment. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Introducing the Fusion Authority Quarterly Update. 80 pages of hard-hitting, up-to-date ColdFusion information by your peers, delivered to your door four times a year. http://www.fusionauthority.com/quarterly Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/message.cfm/messageid:213412 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5
