FILE PHOTO: Todd Robinson, Charge d'Affaires of the U.S. Embassy for Venezuela, talks to the media during a news conference in Caracas, Venezuela May 18, 2018. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins/File Photo

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro said on Tuesday he was expelling the top U.S. diplomat in Caracas for allegedly conspiring against his socialist government.

“I have declared him persona non grata and I announce the exit of the U.S. chargé d’affaires in 48 hours,” Maduro said of Todd Robinson during the official proclamation of his re-election which was slammed as a farce by Washington.