Chavez justifies seizure of Hilton hotel in Venezuela

Oct 15, 2009, 17:36 GMT

   Caracas - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said late Wednesday that he had ordered the state to take over a tourist resort on the Venezuelan Caribbean island of Margarita.

He claimed the expropriation was necessary because the Margarita Hilton Suites had hindered the African-South American Summit held last month on the island.

'When we wanted to hold the ASA Summit we had to request a whole load of permits for security and other things. They want to impose conditions on the revolutionary state, and we are not going to allow that,' Chavez said.

The US hotel company said in a statement that it was 'evaluating how the Venezuelan government's actions affect its interests in this hotel, which remains a member of the Hilton system of hotels and welcomes guests with the same level of service they have come to enjoy.'

   The ASA Summit used several hotels in Margarita.

   Earlier, Venezuelan Tourism Minister Pedro Morejon said the government, which until now held a minority stake in the hotel, was to take over management of the property in the light of the expiration Tuesday of a contract that Hilton had held for 20 years.

Morejon said the contract was abusive for the Venezuelan state.

'The government did not carry out any arbitrary action but rather took legitimate possession of a national asset,' the minister said.

Morejon noted that the hotel 'is in an advanced state of disrepair.'

The resort has 280 rooms, including 56 that function as a hotel and 154 suites that are part of a time share programme. There are also a casino, shops and restaurants on the site. The nationalization further affects a dock available for clients' yachts.

The Hilton hotel network also operated a hotel in Caracas that was expropriated in 2007.