BEIRUT, February 13. /TASS/. Venezuelan opposition leaders "have acted against the interests of the Venezuelan people and caused damage to the state," Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro told Al Mayadeen TV channel on Wednesday.

"Juan Guaido and his supporters will sooner or later be brought to justice and will bear responsibility for an attempt to seize power," Maduro said.

He added that the crisis in Venezuela was organized by the United States. "They [opposition leaders] are puppets who serve the extremist administration of Donald Trump that wants to colonize Venezuela," the Venezuelan president said. "The so-called humanitarian intervention that the US is talking about aims at subduing our country and seizing its natural resources," he noted.

On January 23 Venezuelan National Assembly Speaker Juan Guaido proclaimed himself as the country's acting president. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has described it as a coup attempt and announced severing diplomatic relations with the United States.

Guaido was recognized as interim president by the Lima Group countries (except for Mexico), as well as by Albania, Georgia, the United States, and the Organization of American States. Several EU countries came forward with support for the Venezuelan parliament and expressed hope for new elections to resolve the crisis. Maduro was supported by Russia, Bolivia, Iran, Cuba, Nicaragua, El Salvador and Turkey. Belarus and China called for resolving all issues by peaceful means and spoke against any interference from the outside. The UN secretary general called for dialogue to resolve the crisis.