CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) -- Venezuela's government is threatening to seize an idle medicine factory belonging to Pfizer Inc. if a purchase agreement can't be worked out.
Commerce Minister Eduardo Saman told The Associated Press on Thursday that "if negotiations fail, our ministry will proceed to occupy the plant so it begins functioning."
A spokeswoman at Pfizer's New York headquarters says the company is in talks with Venezuela's health ministry over the sale.
The spokeswoman, Tyrene Frederick-Mack, says the plant's shutdown in May was part of a consolidation of the company's manufacturing facilities worldwide. Pfizer says it transferred production to a second Venezuelan plant, also in the city of Valencia.
