U.S. Mulls Tit-for-Tat Move as Caracas Expels Diplomats

The United States Tuesday rejected accusations that three U.S. diplomats plotted against the Venezuelan government and was mulling whether to take any tit-for-tat action after the Americans were expelled.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro ordered the top U.S. diplomat in Venezuela and two other embassy officials Monday to leave the country, accusing them of plotting acts of sabotage with the opposition.

Charge d'affaires Kelly Keiderling, who has served in Venezuela since 2011, and the two other diplomats were declared persona non grata and given 48 hours to leave the country.

"We completely reject the Venezuelan government's allegations of the U.S. government involvement in any type of conspiracy to destabilize the Venezuelan government," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.

Washington also rejects "the specific claims against three members of our embassy" which also included the political officer and consular officer, she said.

But Psaki noted that "in accordance with the Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations and on consular relations, the United States may take reciprocal action. We're still considering what actions we might take."

The United States and Venezuela have been without mutual ambassadors since 2010, making Keiderling the most senior U.S. diplomat in Caracas.

Maduro said the diplomats had met with the "Venezuelan far-right" -- as he calls the opposition -- to finance his opponents and "encourage actions to sabotage the power system and the economy."

But Psaki dismissed the claims, saying the charges appeared to have arisen out of a trip to Bolivar state and the three "were there conducting normal diplomatic engagement."

"We, of course, maintain regular contacts across the Venezuelan political spectrum. And we maintain a broad perspective on Venezuela and travel frequently ....that's what diplomats do."

Washington has been trying to improve ties with Caracas since the death of long-standing U.S. foe Hugo Chavez, but little progress has been made.

"We've had a relationship with Venezuela that we've been working on for some time. We're not going to give up on those efforts," Psaki said.

In June, the two countries agreed to begin discussions aimed at returning ambassadors to Caracas and Washington after talks between U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Foreign Minister Elias Jaua.

But Venezuela broke off the rapprochement in July after the now U.S. ambassador to the U.N., Samantha Power, lumped Caracas with other "repressive regimes."