Accusations of spying and tit-for-tat expulsions of diplomats might seem the stuff of historic ideological battles between Washington and Moscow. But such cold war antics look set to take centre-stage in the saga of deteriorating ties between the US and Venezuela, home to the largest energy reserves in the Americas.

At the weekend, Hugo Chávez, Venezuelan president warned Condoleezza Rice, US secretary of state, against trying to build an international alliance to curb his government’s expanding tentacles of influence across Latin America.