Venezuela is giving the U.S. 15 days to chop its embassy staff by 83 percent.
Agencia Venezolana de Noticias (AVN), Venezuela’s official news agency, said Monday the U.S. Embassy has been told to cut its staff from 100 personnel to 17, CNN reported.
“With respect to bringing the number of staff at the U.S. Embassy in Venezuela to 17, a period of 15 days will be given to decide which staff will stay in our country,” Venezuela’s Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez said Monday, CNN reported.
The decision by President Nicolas Maduro’s regime comes just days after he said Americans were arrested for allegedly engaging in espionage. Mr. Maduro said Saturday that an American pilot was found with “all kinds of documents” that warranted an interrogation by Venezuelan authorities.
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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