Venezuela describes US expelling of diplomat as retaliation
Venezuelan Deputy Foreign Minister Mari Hernandez said that Friday's U.S. decision to expel a Venezuelan diplomat was a "political retaliation," local media reported.

Hernandez told Venezuelan state television that there was no reason to expel Jenny Figueredo Frias, but that the Venezuelan government had been expecting such a move, after Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez declared John Correa, a U.S. naval attache at the U.S. embassy in Venezuela, persona non grata, expelling him from the country.

Hernandez added that Figueredo had conducted herself in an "exemplary and unobjectionable" manner at the Venezuelan embassy in Washington.

Meanwhile, another Venezuelan official, Pavel Rondon, who is on a diplomatic mission in Cuba, told the Cuban press that Figueredo's expulsion was inappropriate because Correa had been charged with a crime that is clearly defined under Venezuelan law.

Figueredo "is not at the same level as Correa and he is accused of a crime," he said.

The U.S. ambassador in Caracas, William Brownfield, confirmed on Friday that the order was given in response to the expulsion of Correa, adding that "my government regrets that our bilateral relationship has reached this point."

Venezuela expelled Correa on Thursday, charging him with spying. Venezuela said that the attache had received secret documents from Venezuelan army officers.

The U.S. responded by expelling Figueredo, a counselor at the Venezuelan embassy in Washington. The U.S. State Department said that the U.S. does not like to engage in tit-for-tat games but "they initiated it and the U.S. chose to respond."

The U.S. State Department officials have also denied the spying charges on behalf of Correa.

Relations between Venezuela and the United States have been deteriorating over recent years, and Caracas accused Washington of supporting an abortive coup to overthrow Chavez in April 2002.

Venezuela remains a top supplier of oil and refined products to the U.S. despite heated diplomatic language, exporting 39 billion U.S. dollars of goods in 2005.