Chavez warns Venezuela does not need Spanish companies
By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Saturday that Venezuela does not need Spanish companies, warning that if Spain's right-wing party wins elections next year its companies would no longer be welcome.
"Spanish companies can go away, we really don't need them," Chavez said during a news conference at the presidential palace.
Chavez said he hopes Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero wins March's general elections, because "with Zapatero it's possible to talk."
"If the right (Popular Party) wins again, forget about the Spaniards," he said, adding that Spanish businesses "would have to leave."
He said that includes Spanish-Argentine oil company Repsol YPF. "Repsol, which is here, would have to leave."