Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez Monday said "the red Constitution (the way he calls his proposed modifications to the Venezuelan Constitution) does acknowledge private schools, but private schools have to respect the red Constitution and abide by the Bolivarian education system."

Chávez claimed he would take over private schools that "do not follow the Bolivarian education system." If any private school fail to meet such system, "then, such school will have to be closed down, taken over, and nationalized, and we shall take care of students," Chávez warned.

He rejected the fact that in the past some Venezuelan governments considered privatizing schools "as a plan of the imperialism to prevent people from accessing education."

His comments came during the opening ceremony of a Bolivarian school in eastern Anzoátegui state.

"We have to continue deepening the system of Bolivarian schools," Chávez said.