Bogota – Venezuela’s Attorney General Tarek Saab has asked the Supreme Court to ban self-declared Interim President, Juan Guaido, from leaving the country and freeze his bank accounts.
Saab said he had opened a preliminary investigation into Guaido’s actions due to “violent events” in the country and statements by foreign powers against the government.
The assets of the state have also been frozen, which implies “serious crimes that violate the constitutional order,” Saab tweeted.
Saab spoke after the U.S. transferred control over key bank accounts and assets to Guaido, whom the U.S. and several other regional nations have recognised as the interim president.
Similarly, the U.S. has transferred control over key bank accounts and assets to Guaido, the Venezuelan opposition leader the U.S. and several other regional nations have recognised as the interim president.
Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, authorised “Venezuela’s Guaido to receive and control certain property in accounts of the Government of Venezuela or Central Bank of Venezuela held by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York or any other U.S. insured banks.”
Pompeo called on other nations to take similar steps, saying the financial move “will help Venezuela’s legitimate government safeguard those assets for the benefit of the Venezuelan people.”
The measure comes one day after the U.S. announced significant sanctions against the state-owned oil company.
Key U.S. allies have switched their recognition to Guaido, amid ongoing protests in Venezuela against President Nicolas Maduro.
However, Cuba, Russia, China, Turkey and others have continued to back Maduro.
Maduro, sworn in earlier this month for a second term after disputed elections in 2018, accuses Guaido of staging a U.S.-directed coup against him.
He also accused Guaido of helping foreign countries to interfere in internal matters.
As a lawmaker, who also heads the National Assembly, Guaido has immunity from criminal investigation that can be removed only by a high court.
Minutes after the announcement, Guaido said he did not underestimate a threat of imprisonment but did not believe it was “anything new”.
“We are here, we will keep acting and working to confront the humanitarian crisis,” he told a news conference.
Hundreds of thousands of people protested on Jan. 23 against Maduro, triggering a police crackdown.
At least 40 people are believed to have been killed in political violence last week, including 26 shot by pro-government forces, the UN said on Tuesday.
Stepping up the pressure on Maduro, the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump imposed sanctions on Venezuelan state-oil firm PDVSA on Monday, triggering higher global oil prices and angry responses from China and Russia. (dpa/NAN)