Washington on Friday labelled presidents Hugo Chávez of Venezuela and Evo Morales of Bolivia as weak and desperate, as tensions escalated between the US and the two countries following their expulsion of US ambassadors.

Philip Goldberg was expelled from Bolivia on Wednesday, which was followed by the tit-for-tat expulsion of the Bolivian envoy to Washington. A day later, Mr Chávez said he was acting in solidarity with Mr Morales and sent home the US ambassador to Caracas, Patrick Duddy, and recalled his own from the US.