Brazil beef giant rules the roost in Venezuela

In June, the president of Venezuela's congress, Diosdado Cabello, spent four days in Brazil. It wasn't a secret. He was accompanied by other officials, tweeted that he was "working for the homeland" and met with the president. But it was an unusual state visit. His first major meeting was with Joesley Batista, the eldest of a billionaire clan of five siblings who control JBS SA, the world's largest meat packer. On three days, Cabello went to JBS plants. He dined with the Batista family. If spending so much time with a foreign meat producer seems surprising, it tells a great deal about the co-dependent relationship emerging between one Brazilian company and the government of Venezuela. And it is a lesson in the Venezuelan government's priorities. December elections are looming as hyperinflation, falling production and rising crime have led to food rationing, riots and looting. More…