Venezuela’s president, Hugo Chávez, has announced plans to nationalize the Bank of Venezuela, the largest bank in the country. Chavez has asked for a meeting with Spanish group Santander, which owns the bank, in order to agree a price.
The timing of Chávez’s latest attack seems curiously ironic, coming just a week after he made up with King Juan Carlos of Spain. In November last year relations between the two men went sour after the king told Chávez to "shut up".
The market fears that this is the first deal of many as Chávez moves towards nationalizing the whole banking system.