U.S. Says Venezuela Complicit in Attack

(In this image made from television and provided by the U.S. embassy in Caracas, Venezuela, motorcyclists are seen through the embassy's press car as it chases Ambassador William Brownfield's car, white vehicle partially out of the frame at far right, after Brownfield was asked by protesters to leave during a visit to a baseball stadium to hand out bats and other donated equipment to a youth league, in Caracas, Friday, April 7, 2006, according to the U.S. Embassy. Supporters of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez pelted the U.S. ambassador's car with fruit, vegetables, and eggs, and a group of motorcyclists chased his convoy for miles, at times pounding on the cars, a U.S. Embassy official said. No one was hurt. The smears on the window are from thrown eggs. (AP Photo/U.S. Embassy in Caracas, Venezuela, HO)

by GEORGE GEDDA, The Associated Press
WASHINGTON
The State Department accused Caracas city officials of complicity Friday in an attack on the car of U.S. Ambassador William Brownfield in the Venezuelan capital.

Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns summoned Venezuelan Ambassador Bernardo Alvarez to the State Department and told him that Venezuela was in violation of an international treaty that requires the host countries to ensure the safety of foreign diplomats, department spokesman Sean McCormack said.