In a sign that U.S.-Venezuelan relations are unlikely to warm quickly in the post-Chavez era, the Venezuelan government confirmed that two of its diplomats have left the U.S., a State Department spokesman told The Times.

One of the diplomats had apparently been based at the Venezuelan Embassy in Washington, while the other worked at a Venezuelan office in New York.

The State Department spokesman said that the Venezuelan Embassy’s Second Secretary Orlando Jose Montanez Olivares, and Consular Officer Camacaro Mata have been declared “personae non gratae” in accordance with Vienna conventions on diplomatic and consular relations.

The expulsion was apparently made as retaliation against Venezuelan Vice President Nicolas Maduro’s move to kick two U.S. diplomats out of Venezuela in the hours before Mr. Chavez’s death was made public last Tuesday.

While Mr. Chavez was apparently still clinging to life, Mr. Maduro announced the expulsions, claiming that the U.S. officials had met with the Venezuelan military as part of a plan to undermine the nation’s security.

News reports identified one of the U.S. officials as Air Force attaché, Col. David Delmonaco.

The State Department has fiercely denied any wrong-doing by the U.S. officials in Caracas. At the time of their expulsion, however, a State Department spokesman said that U.S. officials were leaving open the possibility of taking retaliatory action.