Mormons pull missionaries from Venezuela

SALT LAKE CITY, Oct. 25 (UPI) -- The Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints, popularly known as the Mormon Church, has pulled 400 missionaries out of Venezuela.

Church officials told the Salt Lake City Tribune that the tense relationship between the United States and the government of President Hugo Chavez was behind the decision. They said that getting visas for missionaries or renewing them has become increasingly difficult.

Missionaries will be reassigned to other Latin American countries or to Spanish-speaking missions in the United States and Canada. Venezuelan nationals who are LDS missionaries will remain there.

The church claims 122,000 members in Venezuela with a temple in Caracas and 144 congregations.