Hopes for improved relationships between Latin America and the United States seem to be fading fast as Bolivia kicked out a senior U.S. diplomat on grounds that the diplomat is part of a conspiracy against the Evo Morales government.

Francisco Martinez, the second secretary of the U.S. Embassy in La Paz, was “persona non grata,” Morales said in a public address at his official palace.

Martinez, he said, “was in permanent contact with opposition groups during the entire period of the conspiracy,” which he said caused anti-government unrest that rocked much of the country in September 2008.

Via / The Latin Americanist