The Brazilian authorities declared officials of the Venezuelan government of President Nicolas Maduro personae non grata, the Brazilian Foreign Ministry said late on Friday.
According to the ministry, the Brazilian government “told diplomatic, consular, and administrative officials of the illegal Venezuelan regime that they had been declared personae non grata.”
The move gives Caracas a right to recall its officials from Brazil, or they can remain in the country without official status and relevant privileges.
Venezuela has been suffering from a severe political crisis since the beginning of last year, when Juan Guaido, then head of the opposition-controlled National Assembly, proclaimed himself an interim president of Venezuela.
Two of the people, Indira Alfonso and Jose Gutierrez, were appointed earlier this year by the pro-government Supreme Court to oversee the national electoral council, which has called elections for this December.
The Venezuelan opposition and the U.S. said the council “is stacked with Maduro loyalists and cannot oversee a fair vote.”
The main opposition coalition, led by Guaido, has promised to boycott the election.
Also sanctioned were Reinaldo Munoz, Maduro’s solicitor general, and former Venezuelan state Governor David de Lima, who the Treasury said had orchestrated vote-buying operations to sway opposition legislators.
