State Department Comes Down Wtih Popitis

Why does this require an apology?

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro showed up late at JFK for his flight home with no ticket and proceeded to pay for one in cash, triggering (not surprisingly) the secondary screening treatment.  When he then caused a "ruckus" and refused to submit to frisking, security attempted to handcuff him, but he resisted.  He was finally detained and held for around 90 minutes, then released.

Sounds like he got off pretty easy, what with his forceful thwarting of airport security.  Still, Maduro is doing his best to make an international incident of it and the State Department is kowtowing.

U.S. State Department officials called Saturday's incident regrettable and said they had apologized to Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro. But he said that was not enough.

"We were detained during an hour and a half, threatened by police with being beaten," Maduro told reporters at Venezuela's mission to the U.N. "We hold the U.S. government responsible."
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"They tried to put on some handcuffs," he said, describing it as a threat. "They would have had to take us out of that airport dead if they tried to touch us."
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Maduro said Venezuela would challenge his detention, calling it "flagrant violation of international law" and his diplomatic immunity.

"We demand a response, justice," said Maduro, saying he was detained "illegally, abusively" and that those responsible should be punished. He said the 118 nations of the Nonaligned Movement — through its president Cuba — was lodging a protest.