Caracas, March 10 (IANS): Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has condemned his US counterpart Barack Obama over the approval of sanctions targeting the country's officials.

"President Barack Obama, representing the US imperialist elite, has personally decided to take on the task of defeating my government and intervening in Venezuela to control it," Maduro said on Monday night.

Earlier on Monday, Obama signed an executive order imposing additional sanctions on seven current and former Venezuelan officials over alleged human rights abuses and corruption, Xinhua reported on Tuesday.

The order bars the Venezuelan individuals from entering the US, freezes assets they may have there and prohibits Americans from doing business with them.

This is the third batch of sanctions imposed on Venezuelan officials in less than four months.

"Obama has taken the most unfair and aggressive step Washington has ever taken towards Venezuela," Maduro added.

As counter-measures, Maduro announced the reduction of US embassy personnel in Caracas, a new visa system for all American tourists in Venezuela, and an "anti-terrorist" list which bans several top US politicians to enter the country.