A standoff is developing at the U.S. Embassy in the Venezuelan capital after a top Socialist Party official threatened to shut off electricity to the complex amid a growing power dispute in the oil-rich nation.
President Nicolas Maduro quickly severed diplomatic ties with the U.S. on Wednesday after Donald Trump publicly backed the opposition's Juan Guaido as the legitimate leader of Venezuela and gave U.S. diplomats 72 hours to leave the country. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo responded to Maduro by saying the U.S. doesn't recognize his authority and therefore won't pull its staff, prompting Diosdado Cabello, a close Maduro ally, to make the threatening comments.
"They say they don't recognize Nicolas," Cabello said late Wednesday on state television. "OK. Maybe the electricity will go out in that neighborhood, or the gas won't arrive. If there are no diplomatic relations, no problems."