venezuela

Venezuela's government said Sunday that it will ship gasoline to neighboring Colombia in an attempt to slow cross-border smuggling of cheap Venezuelan fuel.

Venezuela relaxed price controls on 15 foods ranging from bread to beef and removed controls from other products Tuesday in a bid to ease sporadic shortages in supermarkets.

Venezuela's annual inflation climbed to 33.7 percent in July in metropolitan Caracas, but slowed its pace as price controls on food were eased and supply increased, the Central Bank said Thursday.

President Hugo Chavez said Thursday he intends to nationalize the Bank of Venezuela, which is owned by the Santander banking group of Spain.

Venezuela's environment minister said Saturday that the government will put national interests first in the mining sector and forbid mining in a biodiverse forest reserve that is home to two of the country's largest gold concessions.