'We would expropriate the Colombian companies here ... it might be a good idea to (take over) the (Colombian) food-distribution companies,' Chavez said.

The Colombian government did not respond immediately to Chavez's announcements.

Chavez announced the moves in response to Colombian claims that several anti-tank rocket launchers produced in Sweden and sold to Venezuela in the 1980s were recently found at a camp of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrilla group, which has fought a decades-old insurgency in Colombia and has been designated as a terrorist organization by Bogota, the US and the European Union.

Sweden, meanwhile, has confirmed the decades-old arms sales to Venezuela and asked the Chavez government to explain how the weapons ended up in the possession of the FARC.