Edited sentence: " He claimed that the US was openly supporting autonomy-seeking Santa Cruz politicians including the mayor Percy Fernandez and the prefect Ruben Costas.Ambassador Goldberg met Costas in August 2008.Gustavo Guzman, the Bolivian ambassador to Washington, was expelled in retaliation.Guzman said "The U.Immediately after the visit, Costas assumed power, declared that Santa Cruz was autonomous and ordered the take-over of national government offices.The visit to Santa Cruz was the trigger for Goldberg's expulsion.embassy is historically used to calling the shots in Bolivia, violating our sovereignty, treating us like a banana republic