Venezuela will go ahead with the nationalization of the local unit of Spanish bank Grupo Santander, President Hugo Chavez said on Thursday, weeks after officials said the purchase was on hold.

Today we have returned to the subject, I announce the nationalization of Banco de Venezuela to strengthen the national public banking system, Chavez said during a televised meeting with ministers.

Grupo Santander owns Banco de Venezuela, one of the largest banks in the OPEC nation's financial system.

Chavez ordered the purchase of the bank in July but talks with the Spanish company stalled as oil prices plummeted in recent months, and bank officials and a top government official linked to the discussions told Reuters in March that the sale would not happen this year.

(Reporting by Enrique Pretel, Writing by Frank Jack Daniel; editing by Carol Bishopric)