The government of President Nicolas Maduro says it’s nullifying Venezuela’s newly named Citgo board saying opposition leaders had no right to appoint them.
State comptroller Elvis Amoroso made the announcement Thursday amid a months-long fight for control of the country between Maduro and U.S.-backed opposition leader Juan Guaido.
The Houston-based Citgo refinery is Venezuela’s most valuable foreign asset and at the centre of the power struggle.
The opposition-run National Assembly appointed the 15-member Citgo board this year after Guaido declared presidential powers, arguing Maduro’s presidency is illegitimate.
Amoroso says the board members are banned from leaving the country and their Venezuelan bank accounts have been frozen.
Amoroso also says four leading figures opposed to Maduro, including former Attorney General Luisa Ortega, are banned from politics for 15 years.
