A Venezuelan supermarket chain that officials accuse of hoarding products will be brought into the state food distribution system.

President Hugo Chavez warned the US ambassador to Venezuela that he could be asked to leave the country for saying American investors must receive a fair price for their shares of Venezuela’s largest telephone company when it is nationalised.

Venezuela’s foreign minister said yesterday that Opec would not raise oil output because the cartel is already producing at its ceiling of 26 million barrels per day.