CARACAS, March 13 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Venezuela ordered American diplomats to leave the country within 72 hours on Tuesday after President Nicolas Maduro accused US counterpart Donald Trump of cyber “sabotage” that plunged the OPEC nation into its worst blackout on record.
Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza said US diplomats on Venezuelan soil must leave within three days, after talks broke down over maintaining diplomatic “interest sections” in the two countries.
“The presence on Venezuelan soil of these officials represents a risk for the peace, unity and stability of the country,” the government said in a statement.
The US State Department had announced on Monday it will withdraw its staff from Venezuela this week, saying their presence had become “a constraint on US policy.”
Washington has taken the lead in recognising opposition leader Juan Guaido as Venezuela’s rightful president after the 35-year-old Congress chief announced an interim presidency in January after declaring Maduro’s 2018 re-election a fraud. Most countries in Europe and Latin America have followed suit.
Maduro, who retains control of the military and other state institutions as well as the backing of Russia and China, has denounced Guaido as a puppet of the United States.Advertisement
With the blackout in its sixth day, hospitals struggled to keep equipment running, food rotted in the tropical heat and exports from the country’s main oil terminal were shut down.
Venezuela’s opposition-controlled Congress on Monday declared a symbolic “state of alarm” on Monday.
Power returned to many parts of the country on Tuesday, including some areas that had not had electricity since last Thursday, according to witnesses and social media.
But power was still out in parts of the capital of Caracas and the western region near the border with Colombia.
The blackout was likely caused by a technical problem with transmission lines linking the Guri hydroelectric plant in southeastern Venezuela to the national power grid, experts said.
The government suspended schools and business activities on Tuesday for two more days, after doing so on Friday and Monday. — NNN-AGENCIES
