The Guardian Industries float glass plant that the government of Venezuela seized in late July is “a shell of itself,” according to a worker at the facility whom DWM has contacted. Because of a lack of raw materials and the state’s intervention, no glass is being produced, the worker says, adding that all the employees can do is keep the production process up and running.

DWM is not revealing the worker’s name out of safety concerns, but the employee’s words contradict what the socialist government of Venezuela claimed when it took the plant over this summer.

• Venezuela Takes Over Guardian’s Glass Factory
• Guardian Plant Now a “Socialist Company,” Says Venezuelan Official
• Guardian and Venezuela — An Update
• Venezuela Re-Starts Guardian Glass Plant
• What’s Next for Guardian in Venezuela?
• How Venezuela Plans to Run Guardian’s Glass Plant
• Guardian: Seized Venezuela Plant Needs Major Repairs

On August 10, Venezuelan government officials held a press event at the Guardian plant in which they claimed to have “restarted” operations there after they said Guardian had “abandoned” the facility. But in early September, Guardian forcefully rejected those claims in a press release that said Venezuela seized the plant when the company attempted to shut down the glass melting furnace for needed repairs and maintenance.

This tweet from November 2, sent to the host of a popular pro-government TV show in Venezuela, says “it is urgent to reactivate the glass plant GUARDIAN OF VENEZUELA S.A., located in Monagas, in case we run out of flat glass.” DWM‘s research indicates that the man who sent the tweet appears to be involved with a silica mining company in Venezuela.

@ConElMazoDando es urgente reactivar la planta de vidrio GUARDIAN DE VENEZUELA S.A, ubicada en Monagas, si nos quedaremos sin vidrio plano.

— Argelio Salazar (@ArgelioSalazar) November 2, 2016

“Contrary to what has been asserted by the Venezuelan government, Guardian Venezuela never abandoned or closed its operations,” the company said in its press release. “Guardian has warned the Venezuelan government of the grave safety risks to plant employees and the community in general should it continue to operate the plant without completing major repairs.”

It’s unclear of those repairs have been completed. DWM reached out to Guardian for comment, but as of press time had not received a response.

Carlos Marquez, executive director of the Venezuelan American Leadership Council, a group in Washington, D.C., that’s dedicated to returning democracy to Venezuela, recently gave DWM a statement in support of Guardian.

“Unfortunately, the seizure of Guardian Industries’ factory is not surprising,” Marquez said. “This is the continuation of 16 years of failed economic policies brought upon the country by the late Hugo Chavez and now by Nicolas Maduro. We stand firmly behind Guardian Industries, and all the other thousands of companies that have been expropriated in the past 16 year by Chavez and Maduro, and we believe and understand that the only way for Venezuela to overcome its economic challenges is through a prompt change of government, and the adoption of market-friendly policies.”