Worker dies in Venezuela steelmaker mishap

A worker died in an accident at Venezuela's largest steelmaker which the OPEC nation is currently nationalizing, the El Universal newspaper reported on Wednesday, citing a senior company official. Miguel Alvarez, the manager of the plant in the south of Venezuela, said the company was increasing its on-site safety personnel after an electrical failure caused the death on Monday of 18-year-old Edgar Galviz, the newspaper said. The newspaper said workers held protests at the plant following the accident, prompting an emergency managerial meeting that resulted in the decision to deploy more safety officials. It was not clear if the accident affected production. Ternium-Sidor officials were not immediately available to comment on the newspaper report. Leftist President Hugo Chavez this year took over the operations of Ternium-Sidor, previously run by Argentine steel giant Ternium, after ordering its takeover as part of a nationalization sweep that also included the cement sector. But the two sides are still negotiating over the amount of compensation and the possibility that the Argentine company will remain as a minority partner.