Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro expels 3 U.S. diplomats for conspiracies against his government in the midst of violent protest.
President Nicolas Maduro ordered the expulsion of the diplomats last Sunday, after Washington defended an opposition hard-liner who accused Venezuela's leader for bloodshed during anti-government protest.
President Nicolas Maduro didn't identify the consular officials but charged that intelligence officials who tailed them the past two months found evidence they were trying to infiltrate Venezuelan universities, a hotbed of recent unrest, under the cover of doing visa outreach.
But what triggered the expulsion was that President Obama's administration sided with opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez, who is being hunted by police as Maduro accuses him of leading a "fascist" plot to oust the socialist government two months after it won mayoral elections by a landslide.
Maduro stated that, "We are determined to defend our country."
The expulsions come after two weeks of sporadic protests against across the country. Students and opposition supporters have taken to the streets, voicing out there anger and frustrations of the country's high murder rate and crumbling economy.
Tear gas and water cannons were used in Caracas repeatedly last week to disperse troublemakers who pelted police with rocks and burned trash which resulted in three people killed in the violence.
Opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez has backed the protests even though he is wanted on charges of murder and terrorism. He will lead a march on Tuesday through Caracas and says he will surrender to authorities if arrested.
"I've got nothing to fear. I've done nothing wrong," he said in a video released on YouTube on Sunday evening, calling for the march to be peaceful. "If there is an illegal decision to jail me, I will accept it... We're on the right side of history, the right side of justice."
Last Saturday, Secretary of State John Kerry said that the United States is "deeply concerned by rising tensions and violence surrounding this week's protests in Venezuela."
Kerry said the administration is "particularly alarmed by reports that the Venezuelan government has arrested or detained scores of anti-government protesters and issued an arrest warrant for opposition leader Leopoldo López."
The government here described the statement as part of Washington's attempts to "promote and legitimize the destabilization of Venezuelan democracy."
The expulsion of U.S. diplomats is a common political maneuver here. Three U.S. diplomats were expelled in September, accused of sabotaging the country's economy. "Yankees, go home!" Maduro said definitely on state television when making the announcement.
Just hours before announcing the death of predecessor Hugo Chávez in March, Maduro expelled two U.S. diplomats, accusing them of spying. In the same televised address, he accused the United States of poisoning Chávez, who died from cancer.
The two countries have not had ambassador-level links since 2010. Maduro offered no details of who would be expelled.
