U.S. Expels Two Venezuelan Diplomats

The White House expelled Venezuela’s top diplomat in the U.S. from Washington on Wednesday, as a response to Caracas’s decision to expel two American diplomats from the country a day earlier.

The State Department said in a statement that it had declared the Chargé d’Affaires of the Venezuelan embassy in Washington and the deputy consul general of the country’s consulate in Houston “personae-non-grata.”

According to CNN, the two Venezuelan diplomats have been given 48 hours to leave the U.S., the State Department said.

Declaring foreign diplomats personae-non-grata is among the most serious forms of censure by governments, effectively banning them from the country.

The removal comes as a response to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s decision on Tuesday to expel the chargé d’affaires and deputy chief of mission of the U.S. Embassy in Caracas for “conspiring” against his government.

Maduro made the announcement at his confirmation ceremony in Caracas, accusing the men of interfering in the election and giving them 48 hours to leave Venezuela.

Maduro said the expulsions were “in defense of the dignity of the homeland”, receiving a standing ovation from the crowd.

“The accusations behind the Maduro regime decision are unjustified,” said Nauert’s statement.

“Our Embassy officers have carried out their official duties responsibly and consistent with diplomatic practice and applicable provisions of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations,” she added.

However, the State Department rejected those allegations on Wednesday.  The diplomatic incident between Washington and Caracas comes days after Maduro won re-election in Venezuela’s widely condemned presidential election.  The international community, as well as Venezuela’s political opposition, have rejected the results of that election, saying it is a sham and have voiced concerns about irregularities in the voting process.

Meanwhile, new sanctions on Venezuela were imposed by Washington as a response to the undemocratic election. Maduro has criticized the sanctions as a “crime against humanity.”

Venezuela has been ravaged by political and economic turmoil in recent years, causing millions of its citizens to flee to neighboring countries, like Brazil and Colombia.