Moscow - Four Russian navy ships will participate in joint exercises with Venezuela in the Caribbean this year, a Russian Foreign Ministry official said Monday.

The Russian statement came after Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announced the arrival of Russian ships on national television Sunday, saying they would dock in the South American country by late November.

Andrei Nesterenko confirmed that "before the end of the year" the nuclear-powered cruiser Peter the Great, an anti-submarine ship, tugboat and big sea tanker would enter Venezuelan waters.

Caracas - Venezuelan troops seized a cement plant owned by Mexico's Cemex SAB after a deal to nationalize the firm failed.

Troops occupied the Maracaibo Cemex plant in the western state of Zulia Monday night but plan to take control of all four Cemex plants in Venezuela Tuesday.

"At midnight, we are going to take operational control of Cemex's installations, and from that moment, the expropriation decree takes effect," Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez said Monday night in Caracas.

President Hugo Chavez announced in April that he would nationalize the cement industry after nationalizing power, telecommunication, oil and steel companies since last year.

Palma de Majorca, Spain - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez arrived Friday on the Spanish holiday island of Majorca, where he was due to meet King Juan Carlos to normalize relations eight months after the monarch told him to shut up.

Chavez and Juan Carlos were scheduled to hold a one-hour meeting in the Marivent palace in the Majorca capital Palma, where the royal family is on holiday.

Caracas  - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez Thursday threatened not to sell oil to any country that enforces strict new European Union rules for deporting illegal immigrants.

Caracas - Venezuela's nationalization policy has now moved to the cement sector, with a government decree effective Thursday that requires cement plants six months to transfer a 60 per cent stake t

Washington - The United States acknowledged Monday that a US military aircraft may have inadvertently wandered into Venezuelan airspace during an anti-narcotics mission.