The US has hit Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro with financial sanctions after an election to rewrite the constitution.

Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman is "the world's most powerful drug trafficker", the US Treasury Department said.

The US today accused three members of anti-American Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez's inner circle of aiding Colombian rebels by supplying arms and helping drug traffickers. Washington also expelled Mr Chavez's ambassador as a diplomatic clash intensified