CARACAS, (Reuters) – Newly nominated U.S. ambassador  Larry Palmer will not be allowed to take up his post in Caracas  after criticizing Venezuela’s socialist government, President  Hugo Chavez said yesterday.

“How do you think, Obama, that I am going to accept that  gentleman as ambassador?” Chavez said on his weekly TV program,  referring to U.S. President Barack Obama’s proposed envoy to  the South American OPEC member. “It’s impossible.”

Palmer told a U.S. senator recently that morale was low in  Venezuela’s military and there were “clear ties” between  members of Chavez’s government and leftist Colombian rebels.

His comments came at an awkward time after Colombia accused  Venezuela of sheltering guerrillas on its soil. Chavez denies  the accusations and broke diplomatic ties with Colombia over  the issue.

“He himself ruled himself out, breaking all the rules of  diplomacy, having a go at us, even the armed forces,” Chavez  said of Palmer. “Probably you will withdraw him, Obama. Don’t  insist, I’m asking you.”   Washington’s main critic in Latin America, Chavez initially  said he hoped for good relations with Obama, but that quickly  soured and the Venezuelan now uses the same disparaging  rhetoric about the U.S. government as before.

The United States is Venezuela’s top oil buyer, and Caracas  is the fifth biggest U.S. supplier after Canada, Saudi Arabia,  Mexico and Nigeria.

Before Chavez’s announcement, Venezuela’s foreign ministry  had demanded an explanation from Washington for what it called  “meddling and interventionism.”

A U.S. State Department official said Palmer’s comments  were in line with government opinion.