Venezuela's government has given three US embassy officials 48 hours to leave the country, accusing the Obama administration of siding with student protesters.
The announcement by Foreign Minister Elias Jaua comes amid fears that renewed clashes could erupt on Tuesday during planned pro- and anti-government demonstrations in the capital.
Foreign Minister Elias Jaua said the senior US consular officers were trying to infiltrate Venezuelan universities, the hotbed of recent unrest, under the cover of doing visa outreach.
Repeating charges by President Nicolas Maduro, who has expelled American diplomats twice before, Jaua said the US was conspiring with opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez and student activists in an attempt to oust the socialist president.
The US has denied the charges but has expressed concern about rising violence that led to three deaths last week during anti-government demonstrations, and about the government's attempts to block peaceful protests.
More than 1000 students, who have spent the past week on the streets alternating between peaceful protests by day and battles with police at night, marched on Monday to Venezuela's telecommunications regulator to demand it lift all restrictions on the news media's coverage of the unfolding political crisis.
There were no reports of new disturbances.
