Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez told a crowd of thousands of supporters in the city of Puerto Cabello Sept. 11 that he is giving US Ambassador Patrick Duddy 72 hours to leave the country—saying he issued the order in solidarity with his Bolivian ally President Evo Morales, who took the same measure [2] the previous day. In the expletive-laden speech, Chávez said he is also recalling Venezuela's ambassador to Washington, Bernardo Álvarez. "Go to hell, Yankees," he said as the crowd cheered in support. Chávez added that "when there's a new government in the United States, we will send an ambassador, a government that respects the people of Latin America, the America of Simón Bolívar." (WP [3], Sept. 12)
In a more surprising move, Honduras [4] has postponed the accreditation of the new incoming US ambassador, expressing solidarity with Bolivia's complaint. President Manuel Zelaya said that Honduras was not breaking relations with the United States, but supporting Bolivia and Venezuela. (AP [5], Sept. 12)
See our last post on Venezuela [6].
