U.S. Naval Attaché Declared PNG by Venezuela

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has followed through as best as protocol allows on his threat discussed here last week (see Chavez Threatens To Arrest U.S. Spies).

Chavez has declared the U.S. naval attaché PNG.

President Hugo Chavez said Thursday that Venezuela would expel a U.S. official accused of passing secret information from Venezuelan military officers to the Pentagon and warned he would throw out all U.S. military attachés if any further espionage occurred.

The U.S. Embassy confirmed it had received a communique from Venezuela's Foreign Ministry Tuesday asking that its naval attaché, John Correa, be declared persona non grata.

As pointed out last week, this move is purely for domestic consumption in Venezuela:

"We have decided . . . to throw out of the country a military official from the military mission of the United States for espionage," Chavez said in a nationally televised speech celebrating the seventh anniversary of his government.

"We have declared the United States Navy commander named John Correa persona non grata," Chavez said. "He should leave the country immediately."

The announcement was greeted by cheers and applause from an audience of several thousand gathered to mark the anniversary.

Others involved, who lack diplomatic immunity, will not be faring as well as CDR Correa:

The case surfaced last week when Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel said an undisclosed number of active and retired Venezuelan military officers were caught passing information to the Pentagon. Chavez's announcement on Thursday marked his government's sharpest accusations yet and the first time he has named Correa publicly.

Chavez is now talking about upping the ante:

"We warn the imperial government of the United States that if their military attachés in Venezuela continue to do what this captain (sic) has been doing, they will be detained . . . and the next step would be to withdraw the whole so-called military mission of the United States," Chavez said.

One U.S. military attaché getting the heave-ho is no big deal.

Expelling the entire DIA station might annoy the rapacious administration in Washington.