WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States expelled a senior Venezuelan diplomat on Friday in swift retaliation for Caracas sending home an American military attache, escalating a crisis with a major U.S. oil supplier.
Washington targeted the ambassador's chief of staff, a more important official than the American expelled the day before, in a move that went beyond typical reciprocal measures in diplomatic spats, diplomats in Washington said.
The United States cast the decision as a fair response to President Hugo Chavez's provocation. But most diplomats and political analysts saw the tough reaction as in line with a hardening U.S. policy against Venezuela.
"We don't like to get into tit-for-tat games like this with the Venezuelan government, but they initiated this and we were forced to respond," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters.
At a high-profile ceremony on Thursday, Chavez announced the expulsion of a U.S. Embassy naval attaché accused of espionage -- a charge that U.S. officials reject.
The United States expelled Jeny Figueredo, who has the second-highest diplomatic rank at the Venezuelan mission, but did not accuse her of anything.
Although she had little contact with U.S. officials, she was a confidante of the ambassador and the lynchpin of the day-to-day organization of the embassy, overseeing most personnel issues.
The move drew an angry response from Venezuela.
"There is no objective reason to ask for embassy chief of staff Jeny Figueredo to leave. The real reason for this is retaliation of a political nature," Mari Pili Hernandez, Venezuelan deputy foreign minister for North America, told state television.
NEXT MOVE FOR CHAVEZ
It was unclear if Chavez, who has threatened to throw out all U.S. military attaches, would now seek to further escalate the crisis.
His popularity at home has been won in part by playing on anti-American sentiment and picking fights with the United States, but at times he has also tempered his responses to defuse clashes.
The Venezuelan Embassy, which Chavez has used to present a less confrontational style to Americans, gave a measured response to the expulsion.
"Venezuela ... reiterates its commitment not to alter the good relations between the people of the two countries," the embassy said in a statement.
Still, the ties are rapidly deteriorating and sometimes rattle the world's volatile oil markets.
Related Story:
No comments:
Post a Comment