CARACAS—President Hugo Chavez threatened to take over the whole banking sector and Venezuela's largest steelmaker Thursday, raising the specter of a widened nationalization drive by the leftist leader.
After taking over utility companies earlier this year and seizing control of the last privately run oil operations in the OPEC nation only two days ago, Chavez suddenly opened new potential fronts for nationalization.
But in the cases of the banks and the steelmaker Ternium-Sidor, Chavez made his threats conditional, saying they could avoid takeover if they adapted their businesses to better take into account what he calls the national interest.
The banks need to prioritize making domestic loans and the steelmaker should adjust to focus more on the local market too, he said.
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