Venezuela’s Chavez gives the boot to US Ambassador
September 12, 2008 – 10:19 amBBC update on deportation of US Ambassador to Venezuela and its relation to the ongoing conflict in Bolivia:
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is expelling the US envoy to Caracas, amid an escalating regional diplomatic row. Mr Chavez said US ambassador Patrick Duddy had 72 hours to leave, adding the move was in solidarity with Bolivia.It came just hours after Washington ordered out the Bolivian ambassador, in response to its own envoy being told to leave Bolivia.
Bolivia accuses the US envoy of inciting growing violent protests against President Evo Morales.
At least eight people were killed and some 20 injured in clashes between pro- and anti-government groups in Bolivia on Thursday. Bolivia has seen large numbers of protests in recent weeks by opponents of Mr Morales’s economic and social policies.
These actions by both Bolivia and Venezuela’s Chavez will have a profound impact on business and educational relations for the US. But more importantly, it will inevitably alter missions opportunities in these countries. God is Lord of all the earth; no country is “closed” to Him. Our prayer ought to be that God will allow the situation to be resolved for the sake of missionaries in these countries, but we must remember that “His ways are not our ways” and that He uses situations such as these to further His cause.
