Honduras' interim government on Tuesday gave 72 hours to Venezuelan diplomats to leave, accusing them of threatening to use force and interfering into the country's internal affairs.
"The Foreign Ministry has requested the honorable embassy of Venezuela the withdrawal of its administrative, technical and diplomatic staff in a term of 72 hours due to the threats of using force, the interference in internal issues as well as the lack of respect to the territorial integrity," Deputy Foreign Minister Martha Lorena Alvarado said.
The request, however, was turned down by Vezezuelan diplomats who said they would not leave Honduras and would not obey the order of any coup government not recognized by Venezuela.
"We do not recognize the government led by Roberto Micheletti. It is a coup government, supported by bayonets," Uriel Vargas, the first secretary from the Venezuelan embassy in Honduras, told local radio station HRN.
Since the June 28 coup in which Honduran President Manuel Zelaya was deposed by force, Venezuela has shown full support for the ousted leader and condemned the post-coup government as "usurpers" and "coup-mongers".
Chavez said Tuesday that Zelaya's expulsion had also been an attack on Venezuela and regional leftist countries.
The Venezuelan president has also reiterated in various occasions that his country would not use force to meddle in Honduras' internal affairs.
The European Union on Monday suspended 65.5 million euros (93 million US dollars) in aid to Honduran institutions, saying that the bloc would continue to restrict political contacts with Honduras' de facto government "until a peaceful negotiated solution has been found."
(Xinhua News Agency July 22, 2009)
