U.S. Expels Venezuelan Diplomat

[cal04]

The United States on Friday ordered a Venezuelan diplomat to leave the United States after the government of President Hugo Chavez expelled a U.S. naval attache for alleged espionage. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Jenny Figueredo Frias, whom he identified as chief of staff to the Venezuelan ambassador, was declared persona non grata and given 72 hours to leave the United States.

On Thursday, Chavez had said that Venezuela was expelling naval attache John Correa for allegedly passing secret information from Venezuelan military officers to the Pentagon. McCormack said the U.S. action was a direct response to Correa's expulsion. "We don't like to get into tit-for-tat games with the Venezuelan government like this, but they initiated this and we were forced to respond," he said.

Chavez announced Correa's expulsion on Thursday in a nationally televised speech celebrating the seventh anniversary of his government. "We warn the imperial government of the United States that if their military attaches in Venezuela continue to do what this captain has been doing, they will be detained ... and the next step would be to withdraw the whole so-called military mission of the United States," Chavez said. The U.S. move came a day after Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld likened Chavez to Adolf Hitler.

Asked during a National Press Club appearance about indications of a generally deteriorating relationship between Washington and parts of Latin America, Rumsfeld said he believes such a characterization "misses the mark." "We saw dictatorships there. And then we saw most of those countries, with the exception of Cuba, for the most part move towards democracies," he said. "We also saw corruption in that part of the world. And corruption is something that is corrosive of democracy." The secretary acknowledged that "we've seen some populist leadership appealing to masses of people in those countries. And elections like Evo Morales in Bolivia take place that clearly are worrisome."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060203/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_venezuela
(we have such mature people running this country)
"We don't like to get into tit-for-tat games like this with the Venezuelan government, but they initiated this and we were forced to respond," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters. )
http://in.today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2006-02-04T022903Z_01_NOOTR_RTRJONC_0_India-235182-1.xml

[sinkingfeeling]

1. Seems to me like a 'tit-for-tat' response. Same old stupid crap from

this administration. I think their motto is 'Let's see if we can piss off the world."

[MaineDem]

7. I think this has been standard operating procedure for a long time

It's not just the Bush administration's policy. I remember this happening every time a diplomat was ordered out of a country.

[Warren Stupidity]

8. It is rather unlikely that Venezuela was actually spying on us.

Possible, but unlikely. On the other hand, it is a fair certainty that we are spying all over Venezuela.

[realisticphish]

2. nu UH

fine, i'll expell you BACK, wienerhead

[tsuki]

3. "We saw dictatorships there. "

The Republicans have installed a great many dictatorships there.

[Wilms]

4. For Von Rumsfeld this is an unintended consequence of democracy

Popularly elected leaders.

[bullimiami]

5. it is sad that the first thing that comes to mind is

that our guy was spying and our response was petty revenge without basis.

[unhappycamper]

6. "And corruption is something that is corrosive of democracy."

This is the first time Rummy's made any sense.

[Judi Lynn]

9. He still had the energy to take a kick at Evo Morales.

Impressive! Maybe not.

Well, he and his right-wing idiot squad will be working overtime creating loathesome lies to circulate about the recently elected Michelle Bachelet, who was tortured by Rumsfeld former employer's chosen dictator/butcher/terrorist, Augusto Pinochet, along with her mother, her father, who died while being tortured, and her boyfriend who was simply "vanished" into thin air by Nixon's designated dictator Pinochet.

He's going to also have to get to work creating filthy lies to pass around concerning the probably next President in Peru,Ollanta Humala, who currently leads by nine points, and Mexican left-wing candidate Andrés Manuel López Obrador.



Unslimed, so far, to avoid being obvious! It's just a matter of time. Bachelet, Humala, López Obrador

[valerief]

10. I think we should all move to Venezuela

[happydreams]

23. I should have studied Latin harder in high school.

(((Then I could go anywhere in Latin America with greater ease))).

[Tempest]

11. Here's what I don't get

Venezuela is the 4th largest supplier to the U.S. of imported oil.

Rather than continue this tit-for-tat crap, why doesn't Chavez redirect the oil to China or India and cut out the U.S. completely?

I know I would if I were him. It would be an insurance policy since China and India wouldn't want to lose the oil supply if the U.S. decided to attack.

[Warren Stupidity]

12. Venezuela very small USA very big.

Chavez is not a fool. China and India aren't going to do squat about anything we do to Venezuela.

As for "Rather than continue this tit-for-tat crap" my assumption is that we really were spying on Venezuala, which is why they tossed our naval attache. Naval attache's might as well have a big SPY banner on them anyhow as they are almost invarialby assigned to embassies for purposes of espionage and everyone knows it, so my assumption is that there was a particularly egregious bit of spying going on that the Venezuelan's caught onto.

[Tempest]

13. Iraq very small USA very big

And we know how swimmingly it's going in Iraq.


The tit-for-tat goes farther than the current situation

There's the throwing around of insults and the threats from both sides.

[Jdubb32]

15. "Normally, children learn

to gauge rather accurately from the tone of their parent's voice how seriously to take his threats. Of course, they sometimes misjudge and pay the penalty." (Louis Kaplan)

[Deja Q]

14. They should. The US has given both of them fat economies & infrastructure

We gave them a hell of a lot.

Still, once they learn they don't need us, they'll leave.

Trouble is, who in the US can still do what we've been giving away - including people we bring over and train on tax dollars for several years then ship 'em back?

Oops.

[HuffleClaw]

16. 'we were forced to respond' ?

not really.

[Megahurtz]

17. Like a baby throwing a tantrum.....

they're just pissed off that their little trick didn't work.:rofl:

:sarcasm:

[maddezmom]

18. kick

[Judi Lynn]

19. U.S. strikes back against Venezuela

Saturday, February 4, 2006 - Page updated at 12:00 AM
U.S. strikes back against Venezuela
By Bradley Graham
The Washington Post

WASHINGTON — The United States expelled a senior Venezuelan diplomat Friday, calling the move a response to the expulsion of a U.S. naval attaché from Caracas a day earlier.

The State Department announced that Jenny Figueredo Frias, a minister counselor described as chief of staff at the Venezuelan Embassy, had been declared persona non grata and given 72 hours to leave the United States.
(snip)

As a senior embassy figure, Figueredo ranks higher than the U.S. naval attaché, Cmdr. John Correa, who was ordered out of Venezuela on Thursday. Her expulsion carried no allegation of improper behavior, in contrast to Venezuela's accusation that Correa was in league with some Venezuelan military officers and helped to pass state secrets to the Pentagon.

The Venezuelan Embassy noted these differences and said the cases of Figueredo and Correa were "simply not comparable." Although the U.S. action was "not unexpected," the Venezuelan statement said, it could not be justified as "diplomatic reciprocity."
(snip/...)

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002783333_venez04.html

[dweller]

20. but MA ... he did it first!

so glad the adults are now in charge.

:eyes:

dp

[stepnw1f]

22. No Kidding....

I never thought public officials could be this immature.

[LiberalinNC]

21. I'm sure Chavez is "shaking in his boots"

:sarcasm: