Venezuelan government officials backed by National Guard troops seized control of cement plants owned by Mexico's Cemex SAB after failing to reach a deal on terms for nationalizing them. As a deadline for talks expired at the stroke of midnight Monday, Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez raised a fist in the air while hundreds of flag-waving workers cheered at a Cemex plant. “We're taking over operations,” Ramirez said at the plant in the eastern state of Anzoategui. “With Cemex, regrettably, we couldn't reach an agreement.” The government moved to take control of Cemex's Venezuelan subsidiary after a 60-day period for negotiating compensation expired. President Hugo Chavez had established the timeframe in a June nationalization decree. Two other cement companies, Lafarge SA of France and Switzerland's Holcim Ltd, earlier agreed to nationalization terms for their companies in Venezuela and said they would stay on as minority partners. Ramirez said the government's expropriation of Cemex's plants would be formalized on Tuesday.
