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US to pull all remaining diplomatic personnel from Venezuela
WASHINGTON, March 12, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – The United States will withdraw its
remaining diplomatic staff from the embassy in Caracas as the crisis in
Venezuela worsens, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said late Monday.
“This decision reflects the deteriorating situation in #Venezuela as well
as the conclusion that the presence of US diplomatic staff at the embassy has
become a constraint on US policy,” Pompeo wrote on Twitter.
On January 24 the State Department ordered all non-emergency US government
employees to depart Venezuela, where President Nicolas Maduro is facing a
stiff challenge for power from opposition leader Juan Guaido amid an acute
economic crisis.
That day the department also urged Americans living in Venezuela to
consider leaving.
BSS/AFP/MSY/1049 hrs