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9 January 2007 - Venezuela's president Hugo Chavez announced plans Monday to nationalize Venezuela's electrical and telecommunications companies.
Chavez, who will be sworn in Wednesday to a third term that runs through 2013, also said he wanted a constitutional amendment to eliminate the autonomy of the Central Bank and would soon ask the National Assembly, solidly controlled by his allies, to give him greater powers to legislate by presidential decree.
The nationalization appeared likely to affect Electricidad de Caracas (EDC), owned by Arlington, Virginia - based AES Corporation. "All of that which was privatized, let it be nationalized," Chavez said, referring to "all of those sectors in an area so important and strategic for all of us as is electricity."
AES has 2616 MW installed capacity in Venezuela through an 86 per cent equity interest in EDC. Around 1m customers are served by its power distribution business in the country, trough a network that extend 37 719 km.
"The nation should recover its ownership of strategic sectors," he said.
Before Chavez was re-elected by a wide margin last month, he promised to take a more radical turn toward socialism.
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