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The United States Department of State declared Wednesday the Charge d’Affaires of the Venezuelan embassy, Carlos Ron, and the Deputy Consul General of the Venezuelan consulate in Houston as persona non grata and directed them to leave the country within 48 hours.
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In an official statement the spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State Heather Nauert explained “the action is to reciprocate the Maduro regime’s decision to declare the Charge d’Affaires (Todd Robinson) and Deputy Chief of Mission of the U.S. embassy in Caracas (Brian Naranjos) as persona non grata.”
On Tuesday, during Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's confirmation ceremony, he accused Robinson of being involved in "a military conspiracy" against Venezuela saying the U.S. embassy had been meddling in military, economic and political issues, and vowed to present evidence to the nation shortly.
Maduro announced the measures in a speech after receiving credentials from the country’s National Electoral Council confirming his new presidential mandate following his victory in Sunday’s election.
The U.S. and its allies have refused to recognize the legitimacy of the Venezuelan elections since they were announced in February.
After the elections the U.S. announced new sanctions against the South American country. Furthermore the Donald Trump administration has threatened Venezuela with an oil embargo, and has stated he doesn’t rule out a military option in Venezuela.
Nauert said the accusations that motivated the Venezuelan government to expel the U.S. diplomat were unjustified.
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