Venezuela President Hugo Chavez has announced the introduction of a new chain of cut-price retail stores to be run by the government.

"We’re creating Comerso, the Socialist Corporation of markets," Chevez stated at the opening of a new cornbread "socialist" fast-food outlet.

"They’ll see what’s good. We’ll show them what a real market is all about, not those speculative, money-grubbing markets, but a market for the people," he continued, adding: "We’re going to challenge all that junk food that just fattens people up."

The stores will carry a wide range of goods, from cars to foodstuffs, sourced from countries including Argentina, Bolivia and China. A network of subsidiaries will sell new cars imported from China and Argentina "without capitalist intermediaries", said the President.

The new socialist shops will complement the existing Mercal supermarket chain, which sells subsidized food in the working-class neighbourhoods of Venezuela.

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