Venezuela’s 72-hour exit deadline for  of Portuguese EU ambassador delayed through lack of flights

The dramatic expulsion of the EU’s ambassador from Venezuela hit a logistical impasse this weekend: there simply were no flights for Isabel Brilhante Pedrosa to take. She will be leaving the country now on Tuesday, say official sources. Meantime, Venezuela’s decision has seen a ‘tit-for-tat’ response from Brussels which has declared the head of the country’s mission to the EU Claudia Salerno ‘persona non grata’. Ms Salerno won’t be expelled from the country, however, as she is also Venezuela’s ambassador in Belgium and Luxembourg, and for the time being at least those country’s governments have not involved themselves in this new diplomatic spat.