Ranch Expropriation
On April 30, 2010, Arria's ranch "La Carolina" in Yaracuy State was taken over by the Venezuelan government. Minister of Agriculture Elias Jaua "declared that lawyers and historians working for the National Lands Institute (INTI) ha not been able to find continuity of ownership deeds in the national register and therefore the lands are "fallow" and return to the State". According to government officials the ranch was unproductive and was a case of idle lands; according to Arria, the farm had 300 cattle and 90% of it was under some form of agricultural development. When becoming aware of the expropriation threat Dr. Arria took photos of the farm and the cattle and posted them on the Internet, including the one used to illustrate this paragraph. Correo del Orinoco, a state-owned newspaper, reporting their claims that Arria's declarations about expropriation and loot by the Ministry of Agriculture are "subversive and tend to urge the homicide of Hugo Chavez". According to Arria, the expropriation was a reaction to Arria's participation in the Oslo Freedom Forum, where he stated that Chavez will have to face International Justice one day for his "crimes" against the Venezuelan people.
Read more about this topic: Diego Arria