US car giant General Motors said yesterday that it would no longer do business in Venezuela after its factory there was expropriated by the government.

The takeover — the latest response by the United Socialist Party government to the economic crisis it accuses Washington of orchestrating — went ahead on Wednesday as opposition parties staged regime-change protests across the country.

GM statement said yesterday that assets including vehicles had been taken from the plant in an “illegal” seizure, causing what it called irreparable damage to the company.