Venezuela expels top U.S. diplomat, two other embassy officials

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro says of the diplomats "Yankee go home. Enough abuses already."

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• NEW: Maduro says he's expelling the top U.S. diplomat in Venezuela
• He accuses three U.S. diplomats of financing right-wing opponents, sabotage
• "They have 48 hours to leave the country," Maduro says
• Venezuela expelled two other U.S. Embassy officials in March

Venezuela's president said Monday that he is expelling three U.S. diplomats for their alleged involvement in acts of sabotage to destabilize the South American country.

"They have 48 hours to leave the country," President Nicolas Maduro said in remarks broadcast on state-run VTV.

"Get out of Venezuela," he said, listing several names. "Yankee go home. Enough abuses already."

The list includes Kelly Keiderling, who is the top U.S. diplomat in Venezuela as the charge d'affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Caracas, according to the embassy's website.

The U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Maduro accused the group of diplomats of meeting with right-wing political opponents of his government, financing their activities and encouraging them to sabotage the country's electrical system and its economy.

Earlier this month an electrical blackout left more than half of Venezuela without power.

At the time, Maduro blamed the opposition for the massive power outage. The country has also been battling inflation and goods shortages.

Hours before he announced former President Hugo Chavez's death from cancer in March, Maduro said he was expelling two U.S. Embassy officials and accused them of plotting to destabilize the country.

At the time, State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell denied the accusations.

"This fallacious assertion of inappropriate U.S. action leads us to conclude that, unfortunately, the current Venezuelan government is not interested an improved relationship," he said.

Several days later, the United States expelled two Venezuelan diplomats in response.

Maduro's remarks Monday are the latest in a series of accusations alleging plots to destabilize his government or assassinate him. He has made at least 11 such accusations since the beginning of his presidency, CNN en Español reported last week.

Maduro canceled his plans to travel to New York and attend the U.N. General Assembly last week because of what he said were plots to physically harm him there.