Socialist tone in Venezuela seems to be gaining momentum as the Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez has started indicating towards nationalizing many operations of private sector. The private firms operating in Venezuela are obviously not feeling safe owing to the spreading tentacles of socialism. In a recent development, Hugo Chavez threatened to nationalize stores that sell meat above government regulated price. The government has accused supermarkets for erroneously boosting prices of basic foods by maneuvering stockpiles. On the other hand, critics argue that high prices of basic food is a result of prices imposed four years a go, which forced closure of many shops at a great loss and that eventually led to shortage of food. Fearing an action from the government, many private supermarkets have halted selling beef, milk and sugar after a retail chain was ordered to be closed temporarily for selling meat above government regulated price. In another arm twisting strategy, Venezuelan government has seized goods on the ground that they are being hoarded to push the prices up. The government is now selling these goods at government owned supermarkets and at makeshift distribution centers. In the meanwhile, the inflation rate in January rose to a two-year high and consumer price was shot up to 18.4 percent in 12 months. Hugo Chavez has recently publicly announced that he was waiting for the ‘first excuse’ to nationalize privately owned retail outlets that manipulate prices. Accelerating the speed of socialist agenda, the government has already placed the nationalization plans for energy and telecom sectors of the country. Recently Hugo Chavez had also bought stakes in electricity and television companies from US firms.