The United States imposed sanctions on Monday on Venezuelan parliamentarian Luis Barra and current and former government officials in Venezuela, after they tried to prevent the re-election of opposition leader Juan Guaido as president of the National Assembly.
The administration of US President Donald Trump considers Guaido to be the legitimate leader in Venezuela.
According to the Bloomberg news agency, the US Treasury Department´s Foreign Assets Control office reported on its website that Barra and seven other Venezuelan officials were on his sanctions list.
The office has not released any information about the type of sanctions imposed on Venezuelan officials.
Venezuela is currently suffering from a deep crisis, where a strong struggle has been taking place for nearly a year since the leadership of this country.
Opposition leader Juan Guaido was elected president of the National Assembly at the beginning of 2019 after his party, "The Will of the People," assumed leadership of the assembly on a regular basis.
In the aftermath, Guaido announced himself as interim president and announced his challenge to President-elect Nicholas Maduro.
Parliament was divided during the elections held last week for the position of Speaker of Parliament on two opposing fronts, each of which chose its President.
Opposition MPs chose Guaido, but the ruling Socialist Unity Party parliamentarians, who were dissidents from the opposition coalition, chose Luis Barra.
Security forces of the Maduro government denied Guaido and others from entering parliament, and the independent press was excluded from attending the session.
