Venezuela’s National Constituent Assembly on Tuesday approved [press release, in Spanish] a decree rejecting the US economic sanctions and called for treason investigations into political actors for supporting the sanctions. The decree was passed unanimously [BBC report by the ANC. During the debate of the decree, members of the ANC denounced those who were critical of the government, including opposition party members and former supporters of the socialist government. Julio Borges, head of the opposition-controlled parliament, was accused of asking Goldman Sachs to stop buying Venezuelan bonds. The decree came in response to new sanctions imposed by US President Donald Trump’s executive order [text] on Friday.

Venezuela has experienced a significant amount of political unrest since the opposition gained control of the National Assembly in December 2015. In July Venezuelans voted to reject [JURIST report] a plan to rewrite the country’s constitution in a non-binding referendum. Earlier this month the ANC created [JURIST report] a Commission for Truth, Justice and Public Legitimacy, which critics claimed would be used to silence opposition. Also in August the US Treasury Department imposed [JURIST report] sanctions on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. In May the US Department of the Treasury announced sanctions [JURIST report] against Venezuelan Supreme Court justices for usurping democracy.