Venezuela expels U.S. citizen accused of spying

CARACAS, June 5 (Xinhua) -- The Venezuelan government Wednesday expelled U.S. citizen Timothy Hallet Tracy for alleged espionage, the Ministry of Interior and Justice said.

In a statement, the Ministry said Tracy left Venezuela via American Airlines flight 2164 destined to Miami at 0640 local time (1110 GMT) Wednesday.

Tracy, who claimed to be working on a documentary during the presidential elections, was arrested on April 24 by the Venezuela intelligence organization (SEBIN) while he was executing espionage activities, the statement said.

Venezuela held a presidential election on April 14 following the death of former president Hugo Chavez. Acting president Nicolas Maduro won a narrow victory over his opponent Henrique Capriles Radonski.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Interior and Justice Miguel Rodriguez announced the expulsion on the Twitter.

"This citizen had worked with young members of (opposition) parties such as Justice First, and also had done intelligence works, gathering information through videos, photographs and meetings," the twit says.

"Nobody should pretend to enter the country to carry out espionage activities under the argument of being journalist, filmmaker or documentary maker," it reads.

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