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Venezuela Expels Top U.S. Embassy Official and Two Others Venezuela Expels Top U.S. Embassy Official and Two Others
(about 1 hour later)
CARACAS, Venezuela — Stepping up hostilities with the United States, President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela expelled the top American diplomat and two other embassy officials from the country on Monday, accusing them of supporting plots to sabotage the country’s electrical grid and the economy.CARACAS, Venezuela — Stepping up hostilities with the United States, President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela expelled the top American diplomat and two other embassy officials from the country on Monday, accusing them of supporting plots to sabotage the country’s electrical grid and the economy.
“Get out of Venezuela! Yankee go home!” Mr. Maduro shouted as he announced the expulsions at a military event to commemorate the bicentennial of a battle in Venezuela’s war of independence.“Get out of Venezuela! Yankee go home!” Mr. Maduro shouted as he announced the expulsions at a military event to commemorate the bicentennial of a battle in Venezuela’s war of independence.
“We have detected a group of officials of the United States Embassy in Caracas, in Venezuela, and we have been tracking them for several months,” Mr. Maduro said during a live television broadcast. “These officials spend their time meeting with the Venezuelan extreme right wing, financing them and encouraging them to take actions to sabotage the electrical system, to sabotage the Venezuelan economy.”“We have detected a group of officials of the United States Embassy in Caracas, in Venezuela, and we have been tracking them for several months,” Mr. Maduro said during a live television broadcast. “These officials spend their time meeting with the Venezuelan extreme right wing, financing them and encouraging them to take actions to sabotage the electrical system, to sabotage the Venezuelan economy.”
The expelled diplomats included Kelly Keiderling, the chargé d’affaires, who runs the embassy in the absence of an ambassador here. The United States has not had an ambassador in Caracas since 2010, when former President Hugo Chávez refused to accept a new ambassador proposed by Washington because of remarks by the nominee that Mr. Chávez said were disrespectful. The expulsions were the latest diplomatic swipe at Washington by Mr. Maduro since he took over for the country’s longtime president, Hugo Chávez, who died in March. Late last year, as Mr. Chávez grew increasingly ill, the two nations held informal talks aimed at improving the long-strained relations between them, and there was some optimism on the American side that Mr. Maduro, a former foreign minister sometimes described as pragmatic, would be amenable to a thaw.
In 2008 Mr. Chávez expelled the American ambassador, Patrick Duddy, because he said his government had discovered an American-supported plot by military officers to topple him. Mr. Duddy later was allowed to return to Caracas. But it quickly became clear that Mr. Maduro intended to stick closely to Mr. Chávez’s example, painting the United States as an imperialist aggressor out to undermine his government. Early on, he accused the Obama administration of plotting against him, and hours before he announced the death of Mr. Chávez on March 5, he kicked out two American military attachés, saying they had tried to recruit Venezuelan military personnel to conspire against the government.
Mr. Maduro has been struggling with intense economic woes since he was elected in April in a special election to replace Mr. Chávez, the country’s longtime president, who died in March. Since taking office, he has stepped up angry diatribes against the United States, accusing the Obama government of plotting to undermine him. The diplomats expelled on Monday included Kelly Keiderling, the chargé d’affaires, who runs the embassy in the absence of an ambassador here. The United States has not had an ambassador in Caracas since 2010, when Mr. Chávez refused to accept the new one proposed by Washington because of remarks that Mr. Chávez said were disrespectful.
It was the second time this year that Mr. Maduro expelled American diplomats. On March 5, hours before he announced the death of Mr. Chávez, Mr. Maduro kicked out two American military attachés, saying they had tried to recruit Venezuelan military personnel to conspire against the government. Mr. Chávez had already expelled the American ambassador, Patrick Duddy, in 2008, saying that his government had discovered an American-supported plot by military officers to topple him. Mr. Duddy was later allowed to return to Caracas.
Another one of the diplomats expelled on Monday was Elizabeth Hoffman, an official in the embassy’s political section, whom Mr. Maduro had publicly accused at least as early as April of meeting with opposition figures to plot sabotage of the electrical system. He said at the time that he had proof but took no action until Monday. The identity of the third expelled diplomat was not immediately clear.
“I have the proof here in my hands,” Mr. Maduro said on Monday of the latest expulsions. But he did not give any details. Nor did he provide any evidence when he expelled the diplomats in March.“I have the proof here in my hands,” Mr. Maduro said on Monday of the latest expulsions. But he did not give any details. Nor did he provide any evidence when he expelled the diplomats in March.
Mr. Maduro said the diplomats had 48 hours to leave the country. Mr. Maduro said the officials had 48 hours to leave the country.
Glenn Guimond, the press director at the American Embassy, said shortly after Mr. Maduro’s televised announcement that the embassy had not yet received any official communication from the Venezuelan government. “We completely reject the Venezuelan government’s allegations of U.S. government involvement in any type of conspiracy to destabilize the Venezuelan government,” the American embassy said in a statement. “We reject the specific claims against three members of our embassy including our charge d’affaires, Kelly Keiderling. We have seen Maduro’s televised announcement but we have not received any official notification of expulsions.”
Ever since he was elected in April in a special election to replace Mr. Chávez, Mr. Maduro has struggled with intense economic woes and a deeply divided populace. He has often accused plotters and saboteurs of being responsible for a variety of the nation’s ills, including blackouts and the deadly explosion at the national oil company’s enormous Amuay refinery.
“He needs diversions and distractions,” said Michael Shifter, president of the Inter-American Dialogue, a policy group in Washington. “The situation is so dire in Venezuela that he needs to find a scapegoat, and it’s convenient and politically so tempting to kick out U.S. diplomats.”
But Mr. Shifter said that describing the United States as the source of the country’s problems might not have the same effect it did for Mr. Chávez, who was beloved by many of his supporters. Mr. Maduro does not inspire nearly the same devotion, and the country’s economic woes are getting worse, with inflation over 45 percent a year and shortages of many basic foods and goods, including toilet paper.
“I doubt that it has the resonance it used to have,” Mr. Shifter said of the diplomatic expulsions.

María Eugenia Díaz contributed reporting.

María Eugenia Díaz contributed reporting.