Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has ordered the government takeover of a private supermarket chain, accusing the company of food hoarding amid huge lines and shortages in the crisis-hit country.
Maduro did not say whether the move amounted to an expropriation, but he said the government's PDVAL food distribution agency would take over "all service of this chain that was waging war against the population".
He did not name the company, but it is widely assumed that he was referring to Dia a Dia.
Maduro, who spoke on state television, did not say if the measure would be permanent.
It was the leader's latest attempt to control what he has dubbed an "economic war" waged by the private sector and the opposition to destabilise the recession-hit country.
Maduro deployed soldiers and state workers to Dia a Dia shops on Tuesday to supervise the sale of products.
A similar intervention was made at the Farmatodo drugstore chain.
Dia a Dia's director, Manuel Morales, was jailed on Friday and accused of "boycott and destabilisation" of the economy.
Two Farmatodo executives were detained this week.
The country entered recession last year while inflation soared to 64 per cent.
Compounding the economic crisis, oil prices have drastically dropped, forcing Maduro to order government budget cuts.
Shortages of food and medicine have worsened in Venezuela this year, causing longer lines that usual.
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