Chavez Expels US Ambassador
Source: Alalam.ir, 12-09-2008
CARACAS--Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has ordered the US envoy in Caracas Patrick Duddy to leave the country in a move to express indignation at the policy of the current US administration.
The move came a day after Bolivia also declared US Ambassador in La Paz, Philip Goldberg, persona non grata and expelled him over allegations that Goldberg interferes in internal affairs by supporting the opposition.
At a public event on Thursday in the port city of Puerto Cabello, 120km west of Caracas, Chavez ordered the US ambassador to leave the country within 72 hours and threatened to halt crude exports to the United States "if there's any aggression against Venezuela."
Venezuela is the fourth-largest oil supplier to the United States
The Venezuelan president described the move as an act of solidarity with Venezuela's ally Bolivia
He also said Venezuela's ambassador to Washington, Bernardo Alvarez, would return to the US "when there's a new government in the United States."
Chavez announced the decision to oust Duddy hours after saying his government had detained
a group of alleged conspirators in a plot to overthrow him.
He accused the group of current and former military officers of trying to assassinate him with backing from the United States.
A military prosecutor said two officers -- retired general Wilfredo Barroso and retired major Elimides Labarca Soto -- will be tried for incitement to rebellion, a charge punishable by five to 10 years in prison.
At least eight other officers were detained in connection with the plot and were being interrogated, the prosecutor said.
Venezuelan public television aired a recorded conversation allegedly between three high-ranking retired military officers discussing plans to storm the presidential palace in Caracas, target Chavez, and blow up the presidential airplane.
Chavez, a former paratroop officer, headed a failed coup attempt himself in 1992. He was elected president in 1999.
In a further sign of mounting tension with the US, Chavez announced Wednesday that two Russian bombers were in Venezuela for "training flights" and that he would be piloting one of the aircraft himself.
The United States said it would monitor the deployment of the two Russian bombers, which it described as "Cold War era assets," to Venezuela.
The moves came amid soaring tensions between Russia and the United States, including over the presence of US naval vessels sent close to Russian shores to deliver aid to Georgia.
Russia said Monday it was dispatching a nuclear cruiser and other warships and planes to the Caribbean for the joint exercises with Venezuela -- the first such maneuvers in the US vicinity since the Cold War.
CARACAS--Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has ordered the US envoy in Caracas Patrick Duddy to leave the country in a move to express indignation at the policy of the current US administration.
The move came a day after Bolivia also declared US Ambassador in La Paz, Philip Goldberg, persona non grata and expelled him over allegations that Goldberg interferes in internal affairs by supporting the opposition.
At a public event on Thursday in the port city of Puerto Cabello, 120km west of Caracas, Chavez ordered the US ambassador to leave the country within 72 hours and threatened to halt crude exports to the United States "if there's any aggression against Venezuela."
Venezuela is the fourth-largest oil supplier to the United States
The Venezuelan president described the move as an act of solidarity with Venezuela's ally Bolivia
He also said Venezuela's ambassador to Washington, Bernardo Alvarez, would return to the US "when there's a new government in the United States."
Chavez announced the decision to oust Duddy hours after saying his government had detained
a group of alleged conspirators in a plot to overthrow him.
He accused the group of current and former military officers of trying to assassinate him with backing from the United States.
A military prosecutor said two officers -- retired general Wilfredo Barroso and retired major Elimides Labarca Soto -- will be tried for incitement to rebellion, a charge punishable by five to 10 years in prison.
At least eight other officers were detained in connection with the plot and were being interrogated, the prosecutor said.
Venezuelan public television aired a recorded conversation allegedly between three high-ranking retired military officers discussing plans to storm the presidential palace in Caracas, target Chavez, and blow up the presidential airplane.
Chavez, a former paratroop officer, headed a failed coup attempt himself in 1992. He was elected president in 1999.
In a further sign of mounting tension with the US, Chavez announced Wednesday that two Russian bombers were in Venezuela for "training flights" and that he would be piloting one of the aircraft himself.
The United States said it would monitor the deployment of the two Russian bombers, which it described as "Cold War era assets," to Venezuela.
The moves came amid soaring tensions between Russia and the United States, including over the presence of US naval vessels sent close to Russian shores to deliver aid to Georgia.
Russia said Monday it was dispatching a nuclear cruiser and other warships and planes to the Caribbean for the joint exercises with Venezuela -- the first such maneuvers in the US vicinity since the Cold War.
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