BEIRUT, February 13. /TASS/. The Venezuelan government plans to increase oil output by more than 1 million barrels, President Nicolas Maduro told Al Mayadeen TV channel on Wednesday.

"We are using difficulties that resulted from sanctions to create a modern, self-sustainable economy, and call upon investors from Arabic and Islamic countries to invest their money into developing the oil and gas industry," Maduro said.

According to the Venezuelan president, the country's government "plans to triple gold mining rates, as well as production of aluminum and other metals."

"US imperialism has become a paper tiger, and Venezuelan people will win despite sanctions," Maduro 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. The US has also imposed sanctions on Venezuela's state-owned oil and gas company PDVSA (Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A.).

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.