Now Malema visits Venezuela

25 April 2010 - 02:00 By STEVEN BODZIN: CARACAS: VENEZUELA
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Julius Malema led a delegation of South African youths to Venezuela, where the nationalisation of the country's mines was again on the agenda.

Malema and representatives of the ANC Youth League, the South African Students Congress, the Congress of South African Students and the Young Communist League met the South American country's vice-president, Elias Jaua, late on Friday at an event celebrating the planning phase for the 17th World Forum of Democratic Youth. The conference will be held in South Africa in December.

ANCYL national executive member Floyd Shivambu, who served as the delegation spokesman in Caracas, said the group planned meetings with Venezuela's ministers of oil and mining. "The group will press the ANC to take a formal position in favour of nationalisation of minerals," he said.

But, Shivambu said, the nationalisation of mines could make financing new projects difficult unless the state also controlled the country's banks.

In announcing details of the trip, the youth league said it would use the visit to conduct a "thorough organic study on the nature and character of the Venezuelan's state ownership and control of strategic sectors of the economy".

Earlier ANCYL member Abner Mosaase told reporters they "were missing the meeting between our president (Malema) and (Venezuelan President Hugo) Chavez", but Shivambu insisted no such meeting had taken place.

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