Venezuela insulted, detained US agents

Venezuelan officials prove once again that they are now nothing more than castroite thugs.

CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters): US federal agents guarding the American team at South America's top soccer tournament were insulted as "terrorists" and threatened with arrest by Venezuelan officials, the US ambassador said on Wednesday.

Ambassador William Brownfield told Reuters two State Department diplomatic security agents were detained for two hours at Maracaibo airport when they arrived to provide security for US players at this month's Copa America hosted by Venezuela.

"They jacked us around at the airport and then revoked the weapons permits," Brownfield said on his last day as ambassador in a country whose President Hugo Chavez is openly hostile to Washington.

"It is an unusual way of doing business," he added.

The US team, which has suffered heavy defeats in its opening games, has generally received good cooperation from Venezuelan authorities during the tournament, the ambassador said.

But the detentions and a formal note from the foreign ministry withdrawing permission for any of the 10 agents at the tournament to have guns is symptomatic of the increasingly sour ties between the United States and its No. 4 oil supplier.

The Venezuelan foreign ministry did not have an immediate comment when asked about the ambassador's complaint.

Brownfield, who has had tomatoes and eggs thrown at him in public appearances and overseen tit-for-tat expulsions of diplomats, warned embassy staff over the deterioration in relations.

"They are probably going to get worse before they get better," he said in a speech at an event to mark US Independence Day and his last day on the job.

Read the whole article at Caribbean Net News, and Daniel has more on Copa America.

Posted by Ziva at July 5, 2007 02:43 PM