The United States has expelled two Venezuelan diplomats in retaliation for Venezuela's having ordered two U.S. military attaches to leave the South American oil exporter last week, a U.S. official said on Monday, March 11, according to Reuters.

"In response to Venezuela's actions, the Department of State informed the Embassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela on March 9 that ... (it) declared Second Secretary Orlando Jose Montanez Olivares and Consular Officer Victor Camacaro Mata to be personae non gratae," the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said using the formal term when a country has decided to order the expulsion of another nation's diplomats.