Venezuelan minister of finance and his delegation could not attend the United Nations conference on the global economic crisis because they were unable to obtain visas from the United States, according to Venezuelan UN Ambassador Valero Briceno.

The US Embassy in Venezuela, "created obstacles" for the Venezuelan delegation trying to get visas, the Venezuelan UN ambassador told the General Assembly on Friday. "But this is not the first time that such an event has taken place."

A US State Department official is looking into the matter.

It is unclear why the delegation ran into trouble but on Thursday, the United States and Venezuela reestablished full diplomatic relations, agreeing to return their ambassadors to each other's capital.

Last September, President Hugo Chavez kicked out the US ambassador to Venezuela in solidarity with Bolivian President Evo Morales' expulsion of Washington's envoy in La Paz.

The US government then retaliated by kicking out both the Bolivian and Venezuelan ambassadors in Washington.

Meanwhile, on Friday morning, the Iranian envoy to the UN told the General Assembly that First Vice-President of Iran Parviz Davoudi and members of his delegation were unable to attend the United Nations conference on the economic crisis because the United States denied them visas, according to the UN envoy to Iran.

(Xinhua News Agency June 27, 2009)