President Nicolas Maduro said Venezuela had struck $4.5 billion in mining deals with foreign and domestic companies, part of a plan to lift the OPEC nation’s economy out of deep recession causing food shortages and social unrest, Reuters reported. Maduro said the deals were with Canadian, South African, US and Venezuelan companies, but did not specify whether contracts had been signed or just initial agreements. The socialist leader, whose popularity hit a nine-month low in a survey published this week, said he expected $20 billion in mining investment contracts to be signed in coming days and that 60% of the income Venezuela received would be spent on social projects.
