US retaliates, expels 2 Venezuelan diplomats

WASHINGTON— The US state department said on Wednesday that it had ordered two Venezuelan diplomats to leave the United States within 48 hours, a move that followed Venezuela’s decision to expel two American diplomats. The envoys are the charge d’affaires of the Venezuelan Embassy in Washington and the deputy consul general of the Venezuelan consulate in Houston. “This action is to reciprocate the Maduro regime’s decision” to expel two American diplomats, the US state department said. The expulsions marked the latest escalation of tensions between the two countries after the United States called Nicolas Maduro’s reelection a “sham.”—