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Venezuela foreign minister detained, US apologizes
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Venezuela foreign minister detained, US apologizes
Venezuela?s foreign minister was detained at a New York airport on Saturday, prompting an apology from the US government and compounding already tense relations between the two countries.
?The United States government apologized to Foreign Minister Maduro and the Venezuelan government,? said Gonzalo Gallegos, State Department spokesman. Venezuelan television said Nicolas Maduro was stopped for an hour and a half at John F. Kennedy airport and stripped of his travel documents. ?We denounce the US government for violating international law,? Maduro told Venezuelan television from New York, asking UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to condemn his seizure.
The State Department said airport security had questioned the foreign minister. The minister was then told he could board the plane before it took off but he chose instead to return to New York City, the State Department added.
?This is a provocation from Mr. Devil,? Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez told Venezuelan state television, using a name he called President Bush at the UN General Assembly this week. Maduro had also been attending the UN meeting. Chavez continually accuses Washington of plotting to overthrow and assassinate him, charges the United States dismisses.
Last month, Washington and Caracas had a spat over a diplomatic cargo that Venezuela impounded despite US assurances it was entitled to immunity.
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