Venezuela crisis: Chief prosecutor asks court to ban opposition leader from leaving country and freeze his accounts

...as Washington hands Juan Guaido control of his country's US bank accounts

Samuel Osborne
Tuesday 29 January 2019 22:11 GMT
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US national security advisor John Bolton announces Venezuela sanctions

Venezuela’s chief prosecutor has asked the country’s top court to impose a travel ban on opposition leader Juan Guaido and freeze his accounts.

The United States, along with several other countries, has recognized Mr Guaido as Venezuela’s legitimate head of state and denounced leftist president Nicolas Maduro as a usurper.

Mr Maduro, who was sworn in earlier this month for a second term after disputed elections last year, accuses Mr Guaido of staging a US-directed coup.

Attorney General Tarek William Saab made his request to the government-stacked Supreme Court on Tuesday, asking them to open a preliminary investigation into the self-proclaimed interim president.

Mr Saab said he asked the court “to open a preliminary investigation into Mr Juan Guaido as a result of diverse violent occurrences provoked in this country since January 22.” This is the day before Mr Guaido named himself president. Mr Saab also accused Mr Guaido of helping foreign countries to interfere in Venezuela’s internal matters.

As a politician who also heads the National Assembly, Mr Guaido has immunity from criminal investigation that can only be removed by a high court.

Speaking minutes after the announcement, Mr Guaido said he did not underestimate a threat of imprisonment but said he 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.

White House officials when asked if American forces would get involved in Venezuela: 'The president has made it clear that all options are on the table'

It comes as the US mounted pressure on Mr Maduro’s government. Earlier in the day, Washington handed control of Venezuela’s US bank accounts to Mr Guaido.

US secretary of state Mike Pompeo said the access would “help Venezuela’s legitimate government safeguard those assets for the benefit of the Venezuelan people”.

Mr Guaido has been recognized as the nation’s rightful leader by two dozen nations that contend the re-election of Mr Maduro was a sham, in part because his strongest opponents were barred from running.

Juan Guaido named himself interim president

Violent street demonstrations erupted last week during a massive opposition rally in Caracas when Mr Guaido declared he had assumed presidential powers and planned to hold fresh elections, ending Mr Maduro’s “dictatorship”.

The US, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Argentina, Peru, Ecuador and Paraguay have officially acknowledged Mr Guaido as the legitimate interim head of Venezuela, while countries including Russia and China have backed Mr Maduro.

The president has accused the US of leading an open coup to oust him and exploit Venezuela’s oil reserves, the largest in the world.

Additional reporting by agencies

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