Caracas, Venezuela: Venezuela has given the US two weeks to slash its diplomatic mission here to less than 20 per cent of its current size as tensions between the two nations rise.

Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez made the announcement on Monday after a rare meeting with the top American diplomat in Caracas. She said the US mission must be cut to 17 diplomats to strike a balance with the 17 Venezuelan diplomats that serve in the US. It is up to the US to decide which of an estimated 100 diplomats stationed here it wishes to send home.

Over the weekend, President Nicolas Maduro said his socialist government had detained several Americans spies, and would be taking a series of retaliatory measures, including imposing a visa requirement for American tourists, banning the entry of conservative Republicans like former Vice-President Dick Cheney and Senator Marco Rubio, and imposing rules to curtail the movement of the US diplomats he accuses of plotting with the opposition to oust him.

State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf, who spoke before the meeting in Caracas ended, said the US was “clearly concerned” about Venezuela’s new policies toward diplomats and tourists.

‘Anti-American rhetoric’

“There has been a lot of anti-American rhetoric coming out of the Venezuelan government, with a lot of baseless allegations,” she said.

Harf declined to say how many diplomats work in the US Embassy, an imposing compound that sits above Caracas in a secluded, tree-lined neighbourhood.

The US has not exchanged ambassadors with the South American country since 2010. Lee McClenny represents the mission as charge d’affaires. Reflecting the distant state of relations between the two nations, McClenny’s name was twice misspelt as “Clenny” in government statements before Monday’s meeting, which Rodriguez described as cordial.

Maduro regularly rails against the US for meddling in his country’s affairs. He accuses the US of staging an “endless coup” which he blames for Venezuela’s chronic shortages and worsening economy. He has taken to leading weekly chants of “Gringo, go home,” and last month accused the US of plotting with opposition leaders to bomb the presidential palace.

The US did endorse a brief coup led by opposition leaders that toppled Maduro’s mentor, the late President Hugo Chavez, for two days in 2002.

Michael Shifter, president of Inter-American Dialogue, said he doesn’t expect the US to respond with a dramatic change in its own policies toward Venezuela.

“It’s clear Maduro is flailing about, not knowing what to do, so he’s falling back on the tried and true by blaming the US,” said Shifter, adding that the government has so far failed to present convincing evidence of US involvement in destabilising acts. “The problem is it’s no longer credible.”

The new restrictions underscore Venezuela’s role as the most stridently anti-American country in the hemisphere. Cuba, Venezuela’s closest ally, is in talks with the US to expand staffing in the two countries’ diplomatic missions and let diplomats travel outside their respective capitals without having to ask permission.

Maduro is expected to see US President Barack Obama in five weeks at the Summit of the Americas in Panama. As recently as January, he was photographed grinning and shaking the hand of Vice-President Joe Biden, a photo opportunity that now seems unthinkable.

Meanwhile, four North Dakota missionaries detained and then deported from Venezuela last week were recovering on the nearby island of Aruba. Their pastor Bruce Dick said they were expected home on Tuesday.

It’s unclear whether the missionaries were the Americans Maduro was referring to when he said the government had arrested US citizens engaged in espionage.

Speaking on Monday, Dick called their multiday ordeal “a bit of a shock.”