By Enrique Andres Pretel
CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Thursday expelled the U.S. ambassador from the oil-exporting country in an escalating battle between Washington and Latin America's left-wing leaders.
"Go to hell, s--- yankees, we are a dignified people, go to hell 100 times," Chavez shouted at a political rally to thousands of roaring supporters.Chavez, who calls ex-Cuban leader Fidel Castro his mentor, also repeated a threat he has made often to cut off Venezuela's oil supply to the United States.Venezuela has some of the largest reserves outside the Middle East and despite Chavez's clashes with the Bush administration is a major supplier to the United States, which is its biggest customer.
Chavez's diplomatic move came a day after Bolivian President Evo Morales, one of his closest allies, expelled the U.S. ambassador in La Paz after accusing him of instigating violent protests in the Andean nation.
The United States retaliated against Bolivia on Thursday by ordering its ambassador to Washington to leave.
"The yankee ambassador in Caracas has got 72 hours to get out of Venezuela, in solidarity with Bolivia," Chavez said, adding he was recalling his own ambassador to Washington too.
"We will send an ambassador when there is a new government in the United States, a government that respects the people of Latin America," he said. SUPPORT FOR MORALES
The United States said it had not been officially notified of the expulsion. "We have seen reports but we have not received any communication through appropriate diplomatic channels," State Department spokesman Noel Clay said in Washington.
Chavez is the most radical of a growing number of leftist governments in Latin America that to a greater or lesser degree are antagonistic to Washington's traditional dominance in the region.
Chavez was briefly ousted in a 2002 coup that was initially welcomed by Washington, and he and Morales blame U.S. interference for the recent tension in Bolivia.
Eight people were killed as violent protests flared in Bolivia on Thursday, with activists opposed to Aymara Indian Morales creating havoc in its crucial natural gas industry.
Chavez's expulsion of U.S. Ambassador Patrick Duddy from Caracas should fire up his majority poor support base at the start of a campaign for tough local elections in November.
Earlier in the day he spiced up the nascent race with allegations that retired military officers were planning to assassinate him in a coup backed by the United States.
He also cut U.S. flights to Venezuela and warned he would support "armed movements" to back Morales in the event of a coup against him.
Hundreds of flag-waving Chavez supporters gathered outside the presidential palace in Caracas in a nighttime vigil after the government released audio tapes of military officers apparently conspiring to kill the president.Chavez frequently calls the United States an aggressive empire and has aligned himself with Russia. This week he allowed two Russian long range bombers to land in Venezuela and Moscow is also sending warships for naval exercises later this year in its first such move since the Cold War.
(Writing by Frank Jack Daniel; Editing by Saul Hudson, Kieran Murray and Sandra Maler) (less info)