Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez holds a gold bar as he gives his annual address to the National Assembly in Caracas, Venezuela, Friday Jan. 13, 2012. Chavez defended government policies, including his recent decision to withdraw billions of dollars in its gold reserves from U.S. and European banks and bring it back to the Central Bank in Caracas. Holding a bar of gold, he criticized prior governments, saying: "They had taken our gold away." (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez holds a gold bar as he gives his annual address to the National Assembly in Caracas, Venezuela, Friday Jan. 13, 2012. Chavez defended government policies, including his recent decision to withdraw billions of dollars in its gold reserves from U.S. and European banks and bring it back to the Central Bank in Caracas. Holding a bar of gold, he criticized prior governments, saying: "They had taken our gold away." (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
Venezuela?s President Hugo Chavez waves to supporters as he arrives to the National Assembly for his annual state of the union address in Caracas, Venezuela, Friday, Jan. 13, 2012. After thirteen years in the presidency, Chavez is running for a third term in office next October.(AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez speaks holding a gold bar as he gives his annual address to the National Assembly in Caracas, Venezuela, Friday Jan. 13, 2012. Chavez defended government policies, including his recent decision to withdraw billions of dollars in its gold reserves from U.S. and European banks and bring it back to the Central Bank in Caracas. Holding a bar of gold, he criticized prior governments, saying: "They had taken our gold away." (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
Venezuela?s President Hugo Chavez, top left, gives his annual message to the National Assembly in Caracas, Venezuela, Friday, Jan. 13, 2012. Chavez, who has been in office for 13 years, said he expects a "year of tests" as he runs for re-election. Chavez is seeking another six-year term in the October vote. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
A woman holds a picture of Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez as she waits outside of the National Assembly for his arrival in Caracas, Venezuela, Friday Jan. 13, 2012. Chavez gave his annual message to the National Assembly on Friday, saying he expects a "year of tests" as he runs for re-election. Chavez has been in office for 13 years and is seeking another six-year term in the October vote. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) ? Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Friday that his government will close its consulate in Miami after the U.S. government expelled a diplomat.
Chavez said he decided the consulate will shut its doors in response to what he called an unfair action by the U.S. State Department.
"We're going to close it. It's OK. There won't be a consulate in Miami," Chavez said during his annual speech to the National Assembly.
Livia Acosta Noguera, Venezuela's consul general in Miami, was ordered out of the U.S. last weekend followed an FBI investigation into allegations that she discussed a possible cyber-attack on the U.S. government while she was assigned to the Venezuelan Embassy in Mexico. The allegations were detailed in a documentary aired by the Spanish-language broadcaster Univision.
The documentary was based on recordings of conversations with her and other officials, and alleged that Cuban and Iranian diplomatic missions were involved. Citing audio and video obtained by the students at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, Univision said Acosta was seeking information about the servers of nuclear power plants in the U.S.
"There's no proof that she was going around carrying out espionage," Chavez said. He said he thought "pressure by sectors of the far-right" in the U.S. were behind her expulsion.
Chavez said the government decided on an "administrative closing of the consulate while we study the situation." It's unclear what the government intends to do with other diplomats stationed in Miami.
Responding to Chavez's announcement, U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner said: "The decision on how to manage its consulates and how to provide consular services to Venezuelan citizens is entirely that of the Venezuela government."
The consulate in Miami, which covers the states of Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas, is one of Venezuela's largest in the United States. According to U.S. Census figures, the number of Venezuelans in the United States increased from 91,500 in 2000 to 215,000 in 2010.
The Organization of Venezuelans in Exile says 160,000 to 200,000 of those Venezuelans live in Florida.
Closing the consulate is "a maneuver by Chavez to impede the ... (October) presidential elections in Miami, which is the most important electoral center" for Venezuelan voters outside their home country, said Elio Aponte, president of the exile group.
In the last presidential vote in 2006, about 15,800 Venezuelans voted in the United States, three-fourths of them at the Miami consulate.
Chavez announced the closure in the middle of his state-of-the-nation speech, which lasted more than eight hours.
The leftist president repeated his criticisms of the United States, calling its government "a threat for the world."
Chavez also said he expects a "year of tests" as he runs for re-election, and he pledged to hand over the presidency if he loses.
Chavez has been in office for 13 years and is seeking another six-year term in the October vote. Chavez told opposition lawmakers that if he loses, he "would be the first in recognizing it."
Recent polls say Chavez's popularity has been above 50 percent.
Before his speech, hundreds of supporters wearing the red shirts of his political movement gathered outside the National Assembly and cheered, some of them chanting Chavez's name.
Opponents criticize Chavez's handling of problems such as rampant violent crime and 27.6 percent inflation.
Some opposition lawmakers briefly addressed Chavez, including presidential hopeful Maria Corina Machado, who challenged him to a debate and called his frequent expropriations of private businesses "robbery."
"You've called me a thief," Chavez told her. "You don't make the ranking to debate with me."
Chavez touted the country's 4 percent growth last year and noted that under prior governments inflation was at times higher. He said it's important for his government to take steps to reduce inflation.
He defended policies including his recent decision to withdraw billions of dollars in its gold reserves from U.S. and European banks and bring it back to the Central Bank in Caracas. Holding up a bar of gold, he criticized prior governments, saying: "They had taken our gold away."
The former paratroop commander has boosted military spending in recent years, and Chavez said the country will soon begin receiving anti-aircraft missiles. He has previously said Russia is supplying the missiles to Venezuela.
Referring to his struggle with cancer, the 57-year-old president reiterated that he has overcome the illness after undergoing surgery and chemotherapy.
"I needed cancer. I give thanks to God," Chavez said, explaining that the illness had forced him to slow down and reflect.
Turning to international affairs, Chavez defended Iran and its nuclear program, reiterating his view that U.S. concerns about Iran trying to build atomic weapons are baseless. He defended his relationship with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who visited Latin America this week.
"He's a good man. He's not any religious fanatic," Chavez said.
In spite of his latest spat with Washington, Chavez said his government is willing to have good relations with all countries including the U.S. He said one of his government's achievements during 2011 was lowering tensions and improving relations with neighboring Colombia, a close U.S. ally.
Chavez has long been embroiled in tensions with the United States, while Venezuela remains heavily dependent on oil sales to the U.S.
The U.S. Embassy in Caracas has been without an ambassador since July 2010. Chavez rejected the U.S. nominee for ambassador at the time, accusing him of making disrespectful remarks about the Venezuelan government. That led Washington to revoke the visa of the Venezuelan ambassador to the U.S.
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Associated Press writers Bradley Klapper in Washington and Laura Wides-Munoz and Gisela Salomon in Miami contributed to this report.
Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-01-13-LT-Venezuela-Chavez/id-6ec0e434d3b149c9b780f737899a3b62
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