Chavez takes over biggest gold mine in Venezuela

CARACAS: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's government will take over and nationalize La Cristinas, the biggest gold mine in the country owned by Canada's Crystallex, Mining Minister Rodolfo Sanz said on Wednesday.

The move is part of leftist Chavez's socialist agenda that calls for nationalizing Venezuela's natural resources. Over the past year, he has taken over the electricity, oil, steelmaking, cement and telephone enterprises.