CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) – Venezuela has given the U.S. two weeks to slash its diplomatic mission here to less than 20 percent of its current size as tensions between the two nations rise.
Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez made the announcement Monday after a rare meeting with the top American diplomat in Caracas. She said the U.S. mission must be cut to 17 diplomats to strike a balance with the 17 Venezuelan diplomats that serve in the U.S. It is up to the U.S. to decide which of an estimated 100 diplomats stationed here it wishes to send home.
Over the weekend, President Nicolas Maduro said his socialist government had detained several Americans spies, and would be taking a series of retaliatory measures, including imposing a visa requirement for American tourists, banning the entry of conservative Republicans like former Vice President Dick Cheney and Sen. Marco Rubio, and imposing rules to curtail the movement of the U.S. diplomats he accuses of plotting with the opposition to oust him.
State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf, who spoke before the meeting in Caracas ended, said the U.S. was “clearly concerned” about Venezuela’s new policies toward diplomats and tourists.
“There has been a lot of anti-American rhetoric coming out of the Venezuelan government, with a lot of baseless allegations,” she said.