US slaps new sanctions on Venezuela
The United States imposed new sanctions on crisis-hit Venezuela on Wednesday, targeting members of a controversial, all-powerful, loyalist assembly installed last week to bolster what Washington calls the "dictatorship" of President Nicolas Maduro.
The measures were aimed at six members of the so-called Constituent Assembly -- among them the brother of late president Hugo Chavez -- as well as a military officer in charge of security for the body, and a board member of the national electoral authority.
They added to previous US sanctions on Maduro himself -- a rare step against a sitting head of state -- imposed just before the assembly was elected on July 30 in a vote marred by violence, fraud allegations and an opposition boycott.
The Venezuelan government reacted by saying the US was "making a fool of itself in front of the world."
The US announcement came as the Constituent Assembly and Venezuela's supreme court took actions to limit the opposition's ability to challenge Maduro.
The assembly has established a "truth commission" which Maduro has said should examine alleged crimes by opposition leaders -- especially those in charge of the country's legislature, which his Socialist Party lost control of two years ago.
The assembly has also fired the attorney general, Luisa Ortega, who broke ranks to become an outspoken critic of the president.
The supreme court ordered the jailing of an opposition mayor who allowed anti-government protests in his Caracas district, and was mulling similar cases against others.
Major Latin American nations and Canada have also rejected the legitimacy of the Constituent Assembly and slammed Venezuela for "breaking democratic rule."
Since the protests turned violent four months ago, nearly 130 people have died.
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