Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez reported on Thursday afternoon during an obligatory simultaneous broadcast the steps taken by the government to nationalize Banco de Venezuela, property of Spanish financial group Santander.

The head of state said that the entity's stakeholders had no intention to sell the operation in Venezuela, but the government was interested indeed in buying the institution. As a result, it would proceed with nationalization.

In the banking sector, rumors were spread about banker Víctor Vargas, the owner of Banco Occidental de Descuento, having talks since a few weeks ago to procure the Banco de Venezuela. However, no agreement had been reached so far. Chávez confirmed the information.

"Some months ago, I heard that Banco de Venezuela, which had been privatized some years ago, was being sold by its Spanish owners. A draft agreement was entered into by them and a Venezuelan banker. But the Venezuelan banker needed the government authorization to buy a bank, because it is not a petty thing (…) And I told him -I sent the message to the Spaniards- no, and told the Venezuelan banker, no. Now, the government wants to buy the bank; wants to recover it because the bank is property of Venezuela."