Cedice proposes law to return expropriated assets and compensate owners in Venezuela

The Center for the Dissemination of Economic Knowledge for Freedom (Cedice) has put forward a draft law aimed at restoring and compensating owners whose properties were expropriated, nationalized, or seized in Venezuela over recent decades. Rocío Guijarro, the organization's general manager, explained that the initiative goes beyond mere restitution, also addressing the damages incurred by affected owners.

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They were not expropriations as such, because expropriation is done when there is a public utility and the person from whom it is requested is paid that the space will be used (...) for the good of society. They were called expropriations, but they were not as such, but 'vías de hecho.' It is when a good is taken arbitrarily.

Guijarro clarified that many of these actions were not legitimate expropriations, which require public utility and fair compensation, but rather arbitrary seizures termed 'vías de hecho.' The proposed legislation seeks to protect private property rights, including businesses and farms that remain under state administration. Cedice emphasizes the need for owners to understand the status of their assets and explore avenues for recovery or fair compensation if return is not possible.

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If a property is taken from you and it was productive at the time and stopped functioning, I as the owner would like to know its status and how I can recover it. And if I cannot recover it, that commission would have to negotiate with that person and make an economic calculation to reach an agreed price for the loss I suffered.

According to Cedice's Observatory of Property Rights, approximately 2,500 companies and agricultural production units fell under state control through various processes. The organization hopes the draft law will be sent to the National Assembly for consideration. Cedice argues that the systemic seizure of property contributed to Venezuela's complex humanitarian crisis by leaving many productive sectors desolate. The proposed framework draws inspiration from similar measures implemented in countries like Nicaragua, Chile, and Hungary.

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We believe that the right to property is a human right and we believe that this systemic action by the government was what produced the complex humanitarian crisis because many farms and productive sectors in the interior of the country were left deserted and desolate.