Venezuela expels U.S. military official

International News Article | Reuters.com

Venezuela expels U.S. military official
Thu Feb 2, 2006 8:29 PM ET

By Patrick Markey

CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - Venezuela expelled a U.S. Embassy naval attache on Thursday after accusing him of espionage for trying to get Venezuelan officers to hand over state secrets.

The expulsion aggravated already tense relations between the United States and the world's No. 5 oil exporter, as President Hugo Chavez aggressively promotes his socialist revolution to counter U.S. influence in South America.

Chavez, a populist former soldier allied to Cuban President Fidel Castro and Iran, warned he could expel the full U.S. military mission if its officers were caught spying.

"We have declared persona non grata U.S. naval captain John Correa, he must leave the country immediately," Chavez said at a ceremony to celebrate his seven years in government.

A U.S. State Department official in Washington rejected the espionage charges and the Pentagon said Correa was a Navy commander who had returned to the United States as part of his duties. He did not say when Correa left Caracas.

"We will respond through diplomatic channels," State Department spokesman Kurtis Cooper said, referring to a January 30 letter the United States received about Correa. "None of the U.S. attaches was or is engaged in inappropriate activities."

U.S. officials brand leftist Chavez an authoritarian who has trampled over democracy at home and threatened regional stability by using Venezuela's oil wealth to meddle in the politics of his South American neighbors.

Chavez often calls U.S. President George W. Bush "Mr. Danger," criticizes his foreign policies and has repeatedly accused Washington of trying to overthrow his government since he survived a 2002 coup.

Venezuelan authorities said last week they had "confidential evidence" that U.S. Embassy staff were involved with a group of Venezuelan military officers accused of passing state secrets to the U.S. Defense Department.

A U.S. Embassy spokeswoman said they had received a letter from authorities demanding Correa appear before investigators earlier this week and on Thursday another ordering him out.

Venezuela has 65 military officials in the United States and Washington has 21 officials in Venezuela.

'MR. DANGER'

Speaking later before a huge armed forces parade, Chavez lambasted U.S. imperialism and demanded Venezuelan soldiers reject attempts to turn them against his revolution aimed at reversing years of neglect of the impoverished majority.

Chavez purged the armed forces after the 2002 coup. He has created a national reserve he says will help defend Venezuela against a U.S. invasion and sought military equipment from Spain and Brazil with deals the United States says could destabilize the region.

"We must finish the exorcism, because they injected us with the devil of a military doctrine ..., the imperialist military doctrine," roared Chavez, a former paratrooper who himself led a coup six years before winning power at the ballot box.

Chavez was due to travel to Havana later on Thursday to meet with Castro.

Flush with oil cash, Chavez has promoted himself as the frontman for a burgeoning left-wing resurgence in South America, where Evo Morales has become Bolivia's first indigenous president on the back of resistance to U.S.-backed policies.

In Washington, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld had harsh words for Chavez but did not address the expulsion.

"He's a person who was elected legally, just as Adolf Hitler was elected legally and then consolidated power, and now is of course working closely with Fidel Castro and Mr. Morales and others," he said at the National Press Club.

(Additional reporting by Saul Hudson in Washington)