VENEZUELAN President Nicolas Maduro said on Monday night he was “proud” after the US imposed personal sanctions on him.

US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announced the sanctions in response to Sunday’s elections for a new body to amend the constitution.

The president called Washington’s bluff after a mooted block on dollar payments for Venezuelan oil — effectively a full economic blockade — did not materialise.

“Impose whatever sanctions you like but I am the leader of the free people,” said Mr Maduro.

“Why are they sanctioning me? Because I called democratic elections so that people can freely vote for the National Constituent Assembly (ANC),” Mr Maduro said.

“I feel proud to be sanctioned Mr Imperialist, Donald Trump.”

At a Washington press conference earlier Mr Mnuchin said any assets owned by Mr Maduro — a former bus driver — in US jurisdictions would be frozen. All US citizens are also banned from doing business with the Venzuelan leader.

And he repeated Sunday’s threat by the US State Department to sanction the 545 newly elected assembly members.

“Anyone who participates in this illegitimate ANC could be exposed to future US sanctions for their role in undermining democratic processes and institutions in Venezuela,” he said.

US national security adviser, H R McMaster. McMaster accused Mr Maduro of a “seizure of absolute power through the sham election.”

“Maduro is not just a bad leader. He is now a dictator,” he said, adding the Venezuelan president had now joined the exclusive “club” of leaders directly sanctioned by Washington.

Other members of the club include Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe, North Korea’s Kim Jong Un and Syria’s Bashar al-Assad.

But on Sunday a group of 43 international election observers issued a statement calling on governments and people of the world to respect the election result as the “sovereign decision and right of self-determination of the Venezuelan people.”

“We recognise this democratic act… their undoubtable and inalienable exercise of national sovereignty,” they said.

In the early hours of yesterday morning the Venezuelan intelligence service, Sebin rearrested two prominent opposition leaders.

Popular Will party leader Leopoldo Lopez, who was transferred from jail on July 8, and former Caracas mayor Antonio Ledezma were taken from their homes where they had been under house arrest.