The Japanese firms recently notified the Venezuelan side that they plan to withdraw from the joint venture and sell their shares, and the Venezuelan government has agreed to this in principle, the daily said.

Since 2004, the Venezuelan government had sought to raise prices for aluminum shipped to Japan to a level higher than international prices.

It will be comical watching how CVG Venalum goes about looking for a new joint venture "partner"....I'd love to be a fly on the wall for that negotiation...CVG Venalum: "yes, yes...it is true that our previous partner quit because they were losing money as a result of being charged above market prices by us...but you must understand it was for the good of the Bolivarian Social Revolution"

Yup...I'm sure that International Venture Capitalists are butting in line for a cut of this action.