Venezuela follows Bolivia and expels U.S ambassador

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Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Thursday that he was expelling the U.S. ambassador in the latest escalation of tensions between Washington and Latin American leftists, Patrick J. McDonnell and Chris Kraul report.

The move came a day after Bolivian President Evo Morales, a close Chavez ally, accused the U.S. envoy in his country of fostering divisions and ordered him to leave (see Thursday’s La Plaza post).

On Thursday, chaos worsened in Bolivia as clashes between government sympathizers and opponents in a remote province left at least eight people dead and dozens injured. And Washington retaliated for the expulsion of Ambassador Philip S. Goldberg by telling Bolivia’s ambassador, Gustavo Guzman, to leave.

In a speech laced with obscenities directed at the United States, Chavez told a cheering crowd that he acted in solidarity with Morales. Earlier, he said his country would come to Morales’ aid if ‘Yankee stooges’ tried to oust him.

Chavez and the Bush administration have been bitter rivals for years. Although this latest step signals a further deterioration, it is not clear how the expulsions will affect the region’s political and economic stability.

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