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| Version 2 | Version 3 |
|---|---|
| US sanctions Venezuela officials | US sanctions Venezuela officials |
| (30 minutes later) | |
| The US Treasury has frozen the assets of two senior Venezuelan officials it accuses of aiding Colombian rebels, in an escalating diplomatic row. | The US Treasury has frozen the assets of two senior Venezuelan officials it accuses of aiding Colombian rebels, in an escalating diplomatic row. |
| The US said Hugo Armando Carvajal Barrios and Henry de Jesus Rangel Silva were "materially assisting the [Farc rebels'] narcotics trafficking". | The US said Hugo Armando Carvajal Barrios and Henry de Jesus Rangel Silva were "materially assisting the [Farc rebels'] narcotics trafficking". |
| The move came as the US revealed plans to throw out Venezuela's envoy, after Caracas expelled the US ambassador. | The move came as the US revealed plans to throw out Venezuela's envoy, after Caracas expelled the US ambassador. |
| The US and Bolivia have also engaged in tit-for-tat diplomatic expulsions. | The US and Bolivia have also engaged in tit-for-tat diplomatic expulsions. |
| Relations between Washington and Caracas are not thought to have been helped by this week's arrival in Venezuela of two Russian bomber planes taking part in a military exercise. | Relations between Washington and Caracas are not thought to have been helped by this week's arrival in Venezuela of two Russian bomber planes taking part in a military exercise. |
| 'Abetted and funded' | |
| The US Treasury also imposed sanctions on a former official, ex-Venezuelan justice minister Ramon Rodriguez Chacin. | |
| All three had "armed, abetted and funded the Farc, even as it terrorized and kidnapped innocents," according to a statement from the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control. | |
| Evo Morales accused the US envoy of meddling in Bolivia's internal affairs | |
| Mr Carvajal Barrios is a Venezuelan military intelligence director who has protected Farc drug shipments from seizure, according to the Treasury. | |
| Mr Rangel Silva is another intelligence chief who had pushed for greater co-operation between Venezuela and the Farc, the US Treasury alleged. | |
| And Mr Rodriguez Chacin is Caracas' "main weapons contact for the Farc," the statement charged. | |
| The latest row began when Bolivia threw out the US ambassador in La Paz, Philip Goldberg, accusing him of meddling in the country's internal affairs. | The latest row began when Bolivia threw out the US ambassador in La Paz, Philip Goldberg, accusing him of meddling in the country's internal affairs. |
| President Evo Morales said the American envoy had been openly siding with an increasingly violent opposition movement in the east of the country. | President Evo Morales said the American envoy had been openly siding with an increasingly violent opposition movement in the east of the country. |
| 'Go to hell' | |
| US officials said the allegations were baseless, but nonetheless expelled the Bolivian ambassador to Washington in retaliation. | US officials said the allegations were baseless, but nonetheless expelled the Bolivian ambassador to Washington in retaliation. |
| This prompted the Venezuelan leader, a Bolivian ally, to step in to the fray. | |
| On Thursday, President Hugo Chavez gave US ambassador Patrick Duddy 72 hours to leave Caracas, telling him: "Go to hell 100 times." | On Thursday, President Hugo Chavez gave US ambassador Patrick Duddy 72 hours to leave Caracas, telling him: "Go to hell 100 times." |
| BBC South America correspondent Daniel Schweimler says the spat between oil-exporting Venezuela and the US is in neither side's interest. | BBC South America correspondent Daniel Schweimler says the spat between oil-exporting Venezuela and the US is in neither side's interest. |
| The US is a leading trade partner and a major aid donor to Latin America, so few in the region will be happy relations have plummeted to this new low, says our correspondent. | The US is a leading trade partner and a major aid donor to Latin America, so few in the region will be happy relations have plummeted to this new low, says our correspondent. |