The Scotsman - Politics - Sheridan visits socialist president of Venezuela TOMMY Sheridan is to meet Venezuela’s left-wing president, Hugo Chavez, this week following an invitation from Caracas, the Scottish Socialist Party leader said last night.

Mr Sheridan said he hoped to learn from the experiences of Mr Chavez’s government while visiting the South American state during Holyrood’s recess.

"Hugo Chavez is one of the few socialists in power anywhere in the world and he is attempting to use his power to redistribute wealth and power to the poor," the Glasgow list MSP said.

"I want to learn how a socialist Scotland could use our power to shift wealth and power to working people - Venezuela owns its own oil industry and that is SSP policy."