海角大神

For anyone who worried that the death of Hugo Ch谩vez last year might mean less colorful fireworks between Venezuela and the United States, never fear: Nicol谩s Maduro has taken charge of the anti-American mantle with gusto.

In an act that would have no doubt earned a tip of the fiery Mr. Ch谩vez鈥檚 red beret, President Maduro on Monday ordered the expulsion of three US diplomats, charging them with an 鈥渋mperialist鈥� plot against Venezuela.

And not just any plot. According to Maduro, the charg茅 d鈥檃ffaires of the US Embassy in Caracas and two other diplomats had been caught conspiring to sabotage the electrical grid and to 鈥渟hut down all of Venezuela.鈥� He accused the US diplomats of discussing their plot in meetings with Venezuela鈥檚 right-wing political opposition.

Appearing on national TV, Maduro shouted in English, 鈥淵ankees, go home!鈥�

Maduro鈥檚 order 鈥� and especially going on national TV to announce it 鈥� was reminiscent of Ch谩vez, who ruled for 14 years until last March by periodically spicing up his populist-leftist platform with anti-American rhetoric and actions.

Like Maduro鈥檚 accusation of electrical sabotage, Ch谩vez鈥檚 rants against a meddling America could seem outlandish 鈥� but carried a suspicion of credibility, especially domestically and after the George W. Bush administration appeared to act in support of an unsuccessful coup attempt against Ch谩vez in 2002.

Maduro鈥檚 charges of an American diplomatic plot hit as the US continues to face blowback from revelations this summer of extensive National Security Agency (NSA) e-mail spying and Internet monitoring operations across Latin America. Last week Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff blasted the US over its international spying operations against Brazilian officials, businesses, and citizens听in , and this week a group of Mercosur countries met in Caracas to come up with information security measures.

The US has not had an ambassador in Caracas since 2010, and Monday鈥檚 diplomatic dust-up seems likely to sink relations even further. Some members of Congress were quick to call for reciprocal steps against Venezuela.

鈥淧resident Maduro鈥檚 expulsion of our embassy personnel continues a well worn pattern of measures designed to shore up his weak political hand and distract Venezuelans from the serious problems they face at home,鈥� said Rep. Eliot Engel of New York, the senior Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, in a statement Tuesday. 鈥淗is use of diplomatic personnel to score political points is unacceptable and should not go unanswered.鈥�

The US Embassy in Caracas rejected Maduro鈥檚 accusations and insisted that any meetings its personnel have had were 鈥渘ormal diplomatic engagements鈥� as part of 鈥渞egular contacts across the Venezuelan political spectrum.鈥�

鈥淲e completely reject the Venezuelan government鈥檚 allegations of US government involvement in any type of conspiracy to destabilize the Venezuelan government,鈥� the Embassy said in a statement.

The diplomats ordered out of the country were Kelly Keiderling, the charg茅 d鈥檃ffaires, Vice-Consul David Moo, and Elizabeth Hoffman of the Embassy鈥檚 political section. Maduro had already made a public case against Ms. Hoffman as far back as April, speaking then of her meetings with the opposition and alluding to a plot against Venezuela鈥檚 electrical power distribution system.

With his high-profile expulsion of US diplomats, Maduro is acting on a lesson learned from his political mentor, Ch谩vez, Latin America analysts say: Distract the masses from the bad and deteriorating economic conditions around them with a good Yankee imperialist plot.

The problem for the US, some analysts add, is that the US has done its share to make the plots believable 鈥� with actions, for example, like the NSA spying operations.