Top US diplomat in Venezuela under fire for tough comments

The head of Venezuela's government-controlled assembly on Thursday accused the top U.S. diplomat in Caracas of promoting a coup and threatened to take "corresponding diplomatic measures" against him but stopped short of saying he would be expelled. National Constituent Assembly president Delcy Rodriguez issued a series of tweets targeting U.S. charge d'affaires Todd Robinson. They follow the release of an interview he gave a local online publication critical of the Venezuelan government. Relations have long been tense between the United States and Venezuela, an oil-rich country in a deepening political and economic crisis. Robinson told the publication RunRunes that it is possible Washington could ratchet up sanctions against Venezuela's critical oil sector, on top of sanctioning dozens of key government officials, such as President Nicolas Maduro. More…