Venezuela moves to revoke Canadian diplomat's status, accuses him of meddling

The president of Venezuela'sNational Constituent Assembly has taken the first step toward expelling atopCanadian diplomat.

Delcy Rodriguez declared charg d'affairesCraigKowalikpersona non grataon Saturday, a move which does away with his diplomatic credentials. Charg d'affairesis adiplomatwho heads an embassy in the absence of theambassador.

At the same time, Rodriguez announcedAmbassador Ruy Pereiraof Brazil would also be considered persona non grata.

The Associated Press reported that Rodriguezaccused both Kowalik and Pereiraof meddling in the country's politics.

The Associated Press also reported that Rodriguez said Kowalikhas a history of tweeting "rude and vulgar" comments about Venezuela, but it was unclear what tweets she was referring to. A Twitter account that appears to beKowalik's personalaccount contains no tweets.

In Canada, Global Affairs spokesperson Natasha Nystromsaid the move to delegitimize Kowalikwill not change Canada's focus.

"Our resolve remains unchanged. We will continue to work to address this situation and help the Venezuelan people," she said. "We will continue to work with our partners in the region to apply pressure on the anti-democratic Maduro regime and restore the rights of the Venezuelan people."

Canada sanctionedRodriguez

Canada has been critical of President NicolasMaduro'sruling party for consolidating power and isolating the country's opposition parties. As well, Canada has protested the Constituent National Assembly, saying it was undemocratically elected last July.

Venezuela an oil-rich country that was led by outspoken socialist Hugo Chavez from 1999 to 2013 has suffered an economic meltdown since his death.

The dramatic drop in global oil prices since late 2014 and the devaluation of the country's currency have fuelled triple-digit inflation that has resulted in shortages of food, medicine and other basic necessities.

In September, Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs Chrystia Freelandannounced that Canada had imposed sanctions against 40key figures in the Venezuelan regime. The list includes both Maduro and Rodriguez.

And in October, Freelandnoted that Canada has a role to play in promoting democractic institutionsin Venezuela.

"We are seeing real preventable suffering of the people of Venezuela," Freeland said. "And I think there are mounting signs of a regional refugee crisis as well. Colombia and Brazil are facing a lot of pressure. So I think it is an area where Canada needs to be very engaged."

She went on to appeal to European countries to join Canada in puttingpressure on Venezuela.

U.S. President Donald Trump's administration has been especially critical ofMaduro, and, like Canada,imposedsanctions on him and others earlier this year.

"We urgeMaduro'sregime to respect human rights," the U.S. Embassy tweetedon Saturday, calling for the freedom of 268 people activists consider political prisoners.