U.S. President Donald Trump sanctioned 13 senior officials linked to the Venezuelan government four days before a critical vote on a "constituent assembly" that will re-write the constitution and govern the country on an interim basis.

In an interview last year, Scaramucci said he was "interested" in investment opportunities in Cuba. He appeared to be more in tune with Obama's Cuba opening than Trump's recent policy reversal.

Venezuelans living in New Zealand and the Middle East were the first to participate in the plebiscite convened by the Venezuelan opposition. Voters poured out to vote across the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Central America, South America and Europe.

Opposition leaders said 7,186,170 Venezuelans cast votes Sunday. Among them, 693,789 Venezuelans voted abroad, including a record 102,000 in South Florida alone.

In the midst of deepening political crisis in Venezuela, the country's Supreme Court granted the opposition leader house arrest after he spent more than three years in a military prison.

The ruling comes days after the assault on the parliament perpetrated by pro-government militias, and amidst months of street protests against the government of Nicolas Maduro.