The Venezuelan government of President Hugo Chavez has released a range of computers based around Chinese technology and running Linux.

Bolivarian Computers, which  is owned by the government, released four models which will be produced in Venezuela. They will first be used inside the government "missions" and state companies and institutions but eventually are expected to be sold across Venezuela and Latin America.

The price is about 40 percent less than that of similar brands and comes with a three year guarantee.

The company is offering 3 different desktop models and one laptop with a price range of US$ 405 to US$ 1,400. The processors are 1.5 GHz to 3.0
GHz Intel Pentium IV and the laptop will use a 2.0 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor.

More here.