CARACAS, May 7. /TASS/. The Venezuelan government will take three airports in Caracas under personal control in order to prevent illicit activities on their territory, Venezuelan Interior Minister Nestor Reverol said on Tuesday.

"On the instruction of our President Nicolas Maduro, we announce that the government undertakes administrative and operative control over the airports of Caracas, Higuerote and Metropolitano in order to take effective measures and prevent illicit activities," he wrote on Twitter.

The minister noted that the officials will restructure the offices of Interpol, criminal investigation department, border, drug control and immigration services at those airports.

Juan Guaido, Venezuelan opposition leader and speaker of the National Assembly, whose appointment to that position had been cancelled by the country’s Supreme Court, declared himself interim president at a rally in the country’s capital, Caracas, on January 23. On the same day, the United States recognized him as an interim president, and the countries of the Lima Group (excluding Mexico) and the Organization of American States followed suit. Venezuela's incumbent President Nicolas Maduro blasted the move as an attempted coup and announced cutting diplomatic ties with the United States.

Most European Union member states recognized Guaido as Venezuela’s interim president. Russia, Belarus, Bolivia, Iran, China, Cuba, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Syria and Turkey voiced support for Maduro.