Rafael Ramírez, Venezuela's Minister of Energy and Petroleum and President of state-run oil firm Pdvsa, said on Thursday that a law to nationalize gold, which is being drafted within the framework of President Hugo Chávez's special ruling powers, the government will not only "bring order to the industry" but it will also prevent "plundering" of the country's reserves.

"Anyone who knows the southern part of the country, (particularly) the mining area of Guayana, realizes that gold has been in the hands of multinational companies that operate in different ways to perform covert and illegal activities. They are plundering our natural resources (...) With this law, the government seeks to take control and bring order to the sector; and prevent resources from being taken out of the country. The instrument will also ensure marketing monopoly in the government's hands," Ramírez said. In addition to this, he explained that gold ore has been extracted in a way that causes significant environmental damage to Venezuela.

Ramírez insisted that Venezuelan authorities seek to use gold as a vital element for economic stability and growth, as is the case in many other countries. "For the first time, the Venezuelan State will control in a definitive way a sector that is out of control," the Venezuelan top official said in an interview with state-run TV network VTV.

Ramírez also supported President Hugo Chávez's move to bring in gold reserves and hold them in the Central Bank of Venezuela. He also welcomed the decision to transfer international reserves to financial institutions in Russia, China and Brazil.

Translated by Gerardo Cárdenas