Venezuela govt building burns, arson suspected

CARACAS, Venezuela – A fire ripped through a Venezuelan government office belonging to the agency that handles land takeovers Saturday, and officials said there was evidence pointing to arson.

The blaze damaged 70 percent of the regional headquarters of the National Land Institute in the western state of Zulia, Agriculture and Land Minister Juan Carlos Loyo said.

"There is a combination of evidence, very strong, that appears to suggest it was not a natural fire but one in which a group of individuals were involved," Loyo said in comments broadcast by state television. He did not elaborate.

The agency is in charge of carrying out land seizures as part of a socialist-oriented program under which President Hugo Chavez's government is taking over big swaths of agricultural terrain.

Last month, officials accompanied by soldiers and pro-government farmers began taking control of 47 private ranches in Zulia covering more than 93 square miles (240 square kilometers) — about the size of the city of Seattle.

At the time, Chavez called them "national lands" and argued that the owners had illegally taken them over the years. Chavez later said officials decided to let 16 ranch owners keep properties that are relatively small and being used productively.

Loyo said the land agency office has backups of all the documents and information destroyed, so the fire should not hinder the takeovers.

"No matter what happens, there can be no intimidation," he said. "The politics of social justice, the liberation of our lands, must continue."

The president of the national cattle ranchers' association urged authorities to conduct a "serious and impartial" investigation. Speaking by phone, Manuel Cipriano Heredia said he hoped the incident "does not get turned into an excuse to further threaten a national industry that, through the effort of several generations, created their ranches from nothing in the middle of the forest."

Chavez has said the government will make part of the seized land available to the poor and use it to house thousands displaced by recent floods and mudslides.

The government says it has taken over about 8,750 square miles (23,000 square kilometers) of rural land in recent years, targeting farmland that officials contend was either fallow or underused or whose ownership could not be proven through documents.

The leftist leader has also expropriated or nationalized a growing list of businesses, pledging compensation in most cases, although payments have been spotty and there have been disputes.

More than 200 businesses were seized in the past year, according to private-sector estimates.