US to expel Venezuelan diplomats within 48 hours

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The US State Department said on Wednesday it has ordered two Venezuelan diplomats to leave the United States within 48 hours in retaliation to Venezuela's decision to expel two American diplomats.

Venezuela ordered Spanish ambassador to Venezuela, Jesus Silva, to leave Venezuela January 29, 2018. /VCG Photo

"This action is to reciprocate the Maduro regime's decision to declare the Charge d'Affaires and Deputy Chief of Mission of the US Embassy in Caracas personae non grata," State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement.

The Charge d'Affaires of the Venezuelan embassy and the Deputy Consul General of the Venezuelan consulate in Houston had likewise been declared personae non grata and were directed to leave within two days, she said.

Venezuela's move to expel US diplomats earlier this week followed a US tightening of sanctions over Nicolas Maduro's controversial presidential re-election. Caracas had charged it was the victim of a "political and financial lynching" -- accusations Nauert branded "unjustified."

President Nicolas Maduro ordered the expulsion of two top US diplomats in Caracas. /VCG Photo

"Our embassy officers have carried out their official duties responsibly and consistent with diplomatic practice," Nauert said. "We reject any suggestion to the contrary," Maduro announced the expulsions after being officially proclaimed the winner of Sunday's election in the South American nation mired in an acute economic crisis and stiff resistance from opposition.

The vote was boycotted by the main opposition parties and condemned by some countries, including the United States, which denounced it as a "sham."