The Venezuelan government said opposition leader Juan Guaido would be barred from public office for 15 years on Thursday, as it seeks to crack down on the U.S.-backed rival to President Nicolas Maduro.
Guaido has called for fresh protests on Saturday against Maduro, following a blackout this week that left the country without power for days.
Cities across Venezuela recovered electricity on Thursday after the blackout, the second major one in less than a month. Maduro on Wednesday night blamed the outage on a "terrorist attack" on the Guri hydroelectric facility that provides electricity to most of the country.