Acting Venezuelan President Delcy Rodriguez said Nicolas Maduro remains Venezuela's "legitimate president."
She said that he's their leader even while Maduro is in U.S. custody as she described widening cooperation with Washington amid negotiations over the country's oil exports and investment rules.
"I can tell you President Nicolas Maduro is the legitimate president. I will tell you this as a lawyer, that I am," Rodriguez told NBC News' "Meet the Press" in Caracas in her first interview with an American journalist since taking office.
"Both President Maduro and Cilia Flores, the first lady, are both innocent."
Maduro was seized by U.S. forces in Caracas on Jan. 3 and transferred to federal custody in New York, a dramatic intervention that the Trump administration has followed by asserting sweeping leverage over Venezuela's oil lifeline.
U.S. officials say the strategy is designed to reshape the country's battered petroleum sector while pushing political reforms.
Rodriguez said she is leading the government under the Venezuela Constitution.
"I can tell you I am in charge of the presidency of Venezuela, as it's stated clearly in the constitution of Venezuela. And from the amount of work that I have, from how busy I am, I can tell you it's very, very hard work, and we're doing it completely day by day," she said.
Rodriguez also confirmed she could travel to Washington after having had two calls with President Donald Trump.
"I have been invited to the States," she said, adding that "we're contemplating coming there once we establish this cooperation, and we can move forward with everything."
U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright, who visited Caracas this week as the two governments discussed oil distribution and investment terms, praised Rodriguez's role and described the talks as unusually productive.
"Ronald Reagan, trust but verify. Trust but verify," said Wright. "We've been dealing with Delcy for five weeks now. It's been an amazing cooperation."
"She's delivered information. Everything we know so far has turned out to be true," he added. "She's made enormous positive changes, including already changing the hydrocarbon law in the country in the first few weeks.
"So I would say that cooperation is off to a tremendous start."
Venezuela holds the world's largest proven oil reserves, but its production and refining capacity have been hollowed out by years of underinvestment, mismanagement, and sanctions that restricted access to financing, equipment, and the light oil needed to move Venezuela's heavy crude.
The interim government recently approved changes intended to open parts of the oil sector to private investment, reversing long-standing rules that centered state oil company PDVSA.
Wright said more than $1 billion in Venezuelan oil has been sold — with $5 billion more expected — and framed U.S. control over the revenue stream as the chief point of pressure on the interim authorities.
"So the Venezuelans are in charge here in Venezuela, but the United States has enormous leverage over the interim authorities in Venezuela — the largest revenue source that funds the government … of Venezuela is now controlled by the United States," he said.
"If they're driving positive change that benefits Americans and is improving the life opportunities of people in Venezuela, that money will flow," Wright continued. "If they steer off that path, we have just simply tremendous leverage."
Rodriguez also addressed whether opposition leader Maria Corina Machado could return to Venezuela.
"With regards to her life, we do not understand why there's such a fuss about it," Rodriguez said. "With regards to her coming back to the country, she will have to answer to Venezuela.
"Why she called upon a military intervention, why she called upon sanctions to Venezuela, and why she celebrated the actions that took place at the beginning of January."
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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