Venezuela threatens US company reps with jail after closure

President Nicolas Maduro threatened to seek the arrest of Kimberly-Clark representatives after the US paper products company shut down production in Venezuela amid a deep economic crisis.

The company, which halted operations two weeks ago, produced items that are in extremely short supply in Venezuela like toilet paper, diapers and feminine hygiene products.

Maduro accused the company of failing to fund social benefits that its workers had been promised. About 900 workers were laid off by the company.

"The ones who must go to jail will go to jail, no matter where they are," Maduro said on Monday, adding that alerts for their arrests would be issued through Interpol.

The company's factory in the city of Maracay has been turned over to its workers, and Maduro insisted that all production lines were in operation.

But one worker at the plant, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP only one of 11 production lines was active.

Fedecamaras, a national business group, estimates that 85 percent of the country's industries were paralyzed in May due to a lack of raw materials.

The country has been mired in a deepening economic crisis under Maduro's leftist government, with widespread shortages of basic goods, soaring inflation and rising insecurity.