  We study the relation between the recently defined localizable entanglement
and generalized correlations in quantum spin systems. Differently from the
current belief, the localizable entanglement is always given by the average of
a generalized string. Using symmetry arguments we show that in most spin 1/2
and spin 1 systems the localizable entanglement reduces to the spin-spin or
string correlations, respectively. We prove that a general class of spin 1
systems, which includes the Heisenberg model, can be used as perfect quantum
channel. These conclusions are obtained in analytic form and confirm some
results found previously on numerical grounds.
