Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said today he was expelling a US Embassy military official who authorities have accused of spying with a group of Venezuelan military officers.
The diplomatic expulsion worsens already rocky relations between the United States and Venezuela, the world's fifth biggest oil exporter and a top supplier of crude to the US market.
"We have decided to declare persona non grata or as we say here, to throw out of the country, a military officer in the US mission because of espionage," Chavez said during a ceremony to celebrate seven years in power.
"We have declared persona non grataUS naval Capt. John Correa, who must leave the country immediately," he said.
He said the full US embassy military mission would be expelled from Venezuela if authorities caught any of its officers spying.
US officials rejected the espionage charges.
"We will respond through diplomatic channels," US State Department spokesman Kurtis Cooper said, referring to a Jan. 30 letter the United States received regarding Correa.
"None of the US attaches was or is engaged in inappropriate activities," the official said.
Chavez, an staunch ally of Cuba, has become a voice for regional opposition to US free-market policies and has often accused Washington of trying to overthrow him since he survived a brief coup in April 2002.
US officials reject his charges and say the leftist leader has become an authoritarian at home and a threat to regional stability by using Venezuela's oil wealth to meddle in the political affairs of his South American neighbors.
Venezuelan authorities said last week they had "confidential evidence" that US Embassy staff were involved with a group of Venezuelan military officers accused of passing state secrets to the US Defence Department.