Caracas - The Venezuelan president, Mr Hugo Chavez, whose populist style has endeared him to the country's poor, renounced his salary yesterday and said it would be used to create three student scholarships.
Mr Chavez also called on the country's unemployed to join tens of thousands of troops and government employees in a nationwide plan to tackle Venezuela's worst social problems.
Mr Chavez said his programme to form work groups to rebuild roads and set up field hospitals and businesses in poor areas would fulfil his pledge to put the country's well-equipped armed forces to productive use.