Venezuela will seize several gold mining concessions that previous governments granted private operators, in a bid to supplement falling oil prices with proceeds from state-controlled gold, President Hugo Chavez said Saturday.

President Hugo Chavez said Monday that allies' victories in state and local elections mean Venezuelans want him to press ahead with his socialist policies, but his opponents gained ground.

Venezuela's state run oil company, PDVSA, is urgently searching for replacement financing after losing a line of credit of more than $5 billion from the Royal Bank of Scotland, CNBC has learned.

The Venezuelan government has ordered nearly all McDonald's restaurants in the country closed for 48 hours for what it calls irregularities in the fast-food chain's financial books.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was due in Moscow on Thursday, his second visit within months as Russia increases its ties with the U.S. foe after fighting a war against American-allied Georgia.

Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez has added a large Spanish-owned bank to the list of companies to be run by the government in the oil-exporting nation, furthering his plans of building a socialist state.

U.S. imports of Venezuelan oil fell 11.7 percent during the first four months of the year compared to the same period in 2007, the U.S. government said Monday.