Nicaragua's federal government has prevented the mayor of Managua from importing gasoline from Venezuela in the middle of a transport crisis in the capital, local media reported.

Nicaraguan President Enrique Bolanos said that Venezuelan gasoline imports should be agreed to at state level, not through the office of Managua's mayor Dionisio Marenco, of the opposition Sandinista Liberation Front Party.

Marenco signed a deal with Venezuela on April 10 to import 10 million barrels of petrol to Nicaragua each year.

Nicaragua has been hard hit by high petrol prices and gasoline shortages in recent months. Drivers in the capital have staged a strike protesting high fuel costs.

Source: Xinhua