CARACAS - Venezuela asked the Panamanian ambassador to leave the country within 48 hours Thursday after it severed ties with Panama for attempting to interfere in Venezuela's internal affairs.

Ambassador Pedro Pereira and the three embassy staff members were declared "personae non gratae" and given 48 hours to leave Venezuela, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

President Nicolas Maduro said Wednesday that Venezuela was breaking off diplomatic ties with Panama after Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli called an urgent meeting of the Organization of American States (OAS) over the political turmoil in Venezuela.

Two people were killed in a Caracas neighborhood Thursday, bringing the death toll to at least 20 in the month-long anti-government protests.

It was the second time that foreign diplomats were expelled from the country since street protests erupted on Feb 12.

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