CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) – Venezuela will shrink the size of the U.S. Embassy staff, limit the activities of U.S. diplomats and require American citizens to apply for visas if they want to come bask on the beach.
Speaking before a crowd that rallied to protest imperialism, President Nicolas Maduro said Saturday that “gringo” meddling had forced him to adopt the series of restrictive measures, which include requiring U.S. diplomats to seek approval from the Foreign Ministry for meetings they conduct here.
Maduro said he was imposing the new tourist visa requirement for national security reasons, saying that in recent days authorities had detained several U.S. citizens who he alleged were involved in espionage, including an American pilot.
The president and other officials gave no specific information on any Americans in custody, and the U.S. Embassy did not respond to a request for comment. Earlier in the day, Venezuela released four missionaries from North Dakota who had been detained several days ago for unknown reasons. They were banned from coming back for two years.
Relations between the two countries have been rapidly deteriorating as Maduro blames U.S. plotting for the host of economic and social woes plaguing the socialist-governed country. He recently accused the U.S. of working with local opposition groups to stage a coup that involved bombing the presidential palace. Washington called the accusation ludicrous.
The two countries have not exchanged ambassadors since 2010, but have continued to exchange diplomatic staff. On Saturday, Maduro said the U.S. has far more officials in Venezuela than his government has in the U.S.
Maduro addressed Obama directly, saying the U.S. president has “arrogantly” refused to engage in conciliatory talks.
“I’m very sorry, Mr President, that you have gone down this dead end,” he during a speech that all Venezuelan television and radio stations were required to carry.
Venezuela will charge Americans the same tourist visa fees that the U.S. charges Venezuelans and it will require payment in dollars, which are increasingly scarce in Venezuela.
Maduro said all comers would be welcome, except for a few selected U.S. officials, who would be banned from the country, including former President George W Bush and Republican Senator Marco Rubio of Florida.
The U.S. State Department said it had not received any communications from Venezuela and couldn’t comment yet on the new restrictions, which come after the U.S. recently imposed a travel ban on a list of top Venezuelan officials accused of human rights violations.
In a statement, it also again rejected Maduro’s claims that the U.S. is plotting against Venezuela.