Venezuela expels Ecuador envoy in retaliatory move

Venezuela has ordered the expulsion of Ecuador’s top diplomat in Caracas in a retaliatory move after Quito expelled Venezuelan ambassador amid a war of words over the number of Venezuelan refugees pouring into Ecuador.

Venezuela said in a statement on Thursday that it was "forced to take reciprocal action against the Charge d'Affaires of Ecuador in the Latin American country, Elizabeth Mendez, who is declared a persona non-grata and has 72 hours to leave the country.”

Ecuador's ambassador position in Caracas has been vacant for more than a year because of diplomatic disputes.

Equator took a similar move on Wednesday after Venezuelan Communication Minister Jorge Rodriguez said accused Ecuador’s President Lenín Moreno of “lying” about the number of Venezuelan economic refugees, moving over into Ecuador.

Venezuelan Ambassador Carol Josefina Delgado was given 72 hours to leave the country.

Moreno said during his speech at the UN General Assembly last month that his country has received more than 6,000 Venezuelans a day and that “children are arriving with measles, diphtheria and polio.”

In a reaction to the remarks, Rodriguez said he “couldn’t believe that someone could be such a liar, even at the podium of the United Nations.”

He said it would take “140 busloads per day for seven years” to reach the number of Venezuelan migrants that Ecuador claims to have.

PressTV-Ecuador helps Venezuelan migrants reach Peru

The Ecuadorian government has helped some 250 economic migrants from Venezuela reach Peru before the government in Lima tightens entry requirements for Venezuelans.

The remarks provoked anger in Ecuador with Foreign Ministry saying it “would not tolerate the disrespect of our authorities.”

Ecuador’s Communications Secretariat also reacted in a Twitter post, saying Rodriguez’s statements were proof that the “corrupt, murderous and lying socialism of the 21st century is still alive in Venezuela and producing the most massive migration in [Venezuela’s] history.”

According to Quito, more than 1 million Venezuelans have passed through Ecuador and 300,000 live there — 60,000 in the capital.

Venezuela, once Latin America’s richest nation, has been battling hyperinflation at levels unmatched by any other country. As many as 1.9 million Venezuelans have left the country since 2015, according to the United Nations.

President Nicolas Maduro, however, said no more than 600,000 Venezuelans left in the past two years.

More than 60 percent of people interviewed in a survey conducted by three universities earlier this year admitted to waking up hungry over the past three months because they lacked the means to buy food.

Maduro has launched a series of economic plans in an attempt to curb hyperinflation. He recently carried out a redenomination of currency program, dropping five zeros from the country’s old banknotes and introduced a new currency, known as the sovereign bolivar.

The president blames the United States and its sanctions for the economic hardships.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk