Thursday, February 02, 2006
Take a hike, Jack, and don't ya come back
This is probably something that should have been done long ago:
Excuse me, but why are there any U.S. military attaches in Venezuela? Is there any possible legitimate function these people could be fulfilling? Not that I can think of. They all need to leave. Maybe they can hop a chartered flight with the New Tribes people.
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CARACAS, Venezuela - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said on Thursday he was expelling a U.S. Embassy military official who authorities have accused of spying with a group of Venezuelan military officers.
The diplomatic expulsion worsens already rocky relations between the United States and Venezuela, the world’s No. 5 oil exporter and a top supplier of crude to the U.S. market.
“We have decided to declare persona non grata or as we say here, to throw out of the country, a military officer in the U.S. mission because of espionage,” Chavez said during a ceremony to celebrate seven years in power.
We have declared persona non grata U.S. naval Capt. John Correa, who must leave the country immediately,” he said.
He said the full U.S. embassy military mission would be expelled from Venezuela if authorities caught any of its officers spying.
U.S. officials rejected the espionage charges.
“We will respond through diplomatic channels,” U.S. State Department spokesman Kurtis Cooper said, referring to a Jan. 30 letter the United States received regarding Correa.
“None of the U.S. attaches was or is engaged in inappropriate activities,” the official said.
Excuse me, but why are there any U.S. military attaches in Venezuela? Is there any possible legitimate function these people could be fulfilling? Not that I can think of. They all need to leave. Maybe they can hop a chartered flight with the New Tribes people.
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