Caracas, Jan 30 : Venezuela's Supreme Tribunal of Justice barred self-declared president Juan Guaido from leaving the country and froze his bank accounts Tuesday, as leader Nicolas Maduro seeks to neutralize the American-backed opposition chief.
The 35-year-old head of the National Assembly legislature "is prohibited from leaving the country until the end of the (preliminary) investigation" for having "caused harm to peace in the republic," high court president Maikel Moreno said.
The court is stacked with Maduro loyalists.
The move came after the State Department revealed that Guaido -- the National Assembly head and self-proclaimed interim president -- has been handed control of Venezuela's US bank accounts.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo signed off on the order last week, which was then followed on Monday by US sanctions targeting Venezuela's state oil giant PDVSA, the cash-strapped government's main source of hard currency.
"This certification will help Venezuela's legitimate government safeguard those assets for the benefit of the Venezuelan people," State Department spokesman Robert Palladino said in a statement.
Guaido shrugged off Maduro's efforts to choke his progress as "nothing new."
"I'm not dismissing the threats, the persecution at this time, but we're here, we're continuing to do our jobs," he told reporters as he arrived at the National Assembly.
Guaido, who has been recognized as interim president by US President Donald Trump, sent a message to the country's top court on Twitter warning that "the regime is in its final stage."
"You shouldn't sacrifice yourselves for the usurper and his gang," he added.
In Washington, Trump's national security advisor warned of "serious consequences" if any harm comes to the Venezuelan opposition leader.
"Let me reiterate -- there will be serious consequences for those who attempt to subvert democracy and harm Guaido," Trump advisor John Bolton tweeted.
The opposition-controlled legislature, meanwhile, named "diplomatic representatives" to a dozen countries that, like the US, have recognized Guaido as the interim president.
At the White House, US Vice President Mike Pence met with Guaido's appointed charge d'affaires in the United States, Carlos Vecchio, to discuss the crisis.
The 35-year-old engineer stormed onto the political stage as a virtual unknown on January 3, when he was sworn in as the president of the National Assembly, a body that had been largely neutralized by the Supreme Court.
On January 23, he declared himself the country's acting president and vowed to lead a transitional government that would hold democratic elections.
To keep up the pressure, he has called two more mass demonstrations against the government this week, and has appealed to the powerful military to change sides, offering amnesty to those who do.
At least 40 people have been killed in clashes with security forces nationwide and at least 850 arrested since January 21 when a brief military rebellion was put down in Caracas, according to the UN human rights office in Geneva.
US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the sanctions against PDVSA would prevent Maduro from diverting resources from the country until power could be transferred to an interim or democratically-elected government.
A furious Maduro, 56, said Trump would have "blood all over his hands" if violence breaks out in Venezuela.
In a tweet, he urged the opposition to "ignore the imperialist calls" and reiterated his offer of dialogue to Guaido. He has previously accused the US of trying to orchestrate a coup d'etat.
Gustavo Tarre, Venezuela's new pro-Guaido representative to the Organization of American States, rejected the coup accusation and cast doubt on the staying power of Maduro's regime, saying no one would defend him to the death.
Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the new sanctions "violate all possible international norms" and said the US has "publicly taken a course toward illegal regime change."
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said his country opposes "unilateral sanctions" as they "will only complicate the situation and will not help solve practical problems."
The oil-rich country is already reeling from a deep economic crisis that has pushed millions into poverty and driven 2.3 million more to migrate.
Hyperinflation, shortages of food and medicine and failing public services has spread misery, undermining support for a leftist regime that has held power for two decades.
Trump's national security advisor Bolton called Monday for Venezuela's security forces "to accept the peaceful, democratic and constitutional transfer of power."
He also reiterated Trump's position that "all options are on the table." Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan did not rule out a US military deployment to Colombia.
But the Lima Group of Latin American countries and Canada is opposed to "military intervention" in the Venezuela, Peru's Foreign Minister Nestor Popolizio said.
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New Delhi, Mar 28: A court here Thursday extended the Enforcement Directorate custody of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal till April 1 in the excise policy case.
The agency sought seven-day custody of the AAP chief, but the court said he has to be produced before it on April 1 at 11 am.
The ED had produced him before Rouse Avenue court Special Judge Kaveri Baweja as his current six-day custody was ending on Thursday.
The ED said in its fresh remand plea that during Kejriwal's custodial interrogation, his statements were recorded over five days but he was "giving evasive replies".
It said statements of three other persons relevant to the case have also been recorded during the remand period.
It said that during the ED custody, Kejriwal was confronted with C Arvind, the then personal secretary to deputy CM Manish Sisodia who was handed over the draft Group of Ministers (GoM) report for the 2021-22 excise policy at the residence of the chief minister.
It said the statement of one of the AAP candidates in the 2022 Goa elections was also recorded during Kejriwal's ED custody. It revealed that the candidate did not have any money and his election expenditure was "taken care of by the AAP Office Delhi only through their associates",
The plea said that during the custody, data from the mobile phone of the chief minister's wife have been extracted and were being analysed.
"However, data from other four digital devices seized during the search at Kejriwal's premises on March 21 (belonging to Kejriwal) are yet to be extracted as the arrestee (Kejriwal) has sought time in providing password and login credentials after consulting with his lawyers," it said.
The application said the movable and immovable property details, income tax returns (ITRs), and other financial details sought from Kejriwal were yet to be provided by the chief minister, or his family members.
The federal probe agency said it had sought the details regarding the appointments made with the chief minister in the online portal in his office.
It said the during the interrogation, summonses were issued to senior excise officials in Punjab who were "involved in the arm-twisting of certain (liquor) wholesalers of Delhi."
The agency said that when the demand for bribes was not fulfilled, these officials either shut down their factories or did not allow the wholesalers to despatch their goods to Punjab.
The plea said the officials concerned sought time on the summonses, citing the hooch tragedy in Sangrur.
"The arrestee needs to be interrogated further in the wake of these reasons or findings. Hence, it is imperative in the interest of investigation that seven days' further custodial remand of Arvind Kejriwal may be granted to the Directorate of Enforcement," the plea said.