CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodríguez on Wednesday vowed to continue releasing prisoners detained under former President Nicolás Maduro during her first press conference since Maduro was ousted by the United States earlier this month.

Rodríguez served as Maduro’s vice president since 2018, running Venezuela’s feared intelligence service and managing its crucial oil industry. A 56-year-old lawyer and politician, Rodríguez was sworn in as interim president two days after the Trump administration snatched Maduro from his fortified compound and claimed the U.S. would be calling the shots in Venezuela.

Addressing journalists from a red carpet at the presidential palace, Rodríguez said the process of releasing prisoners had begun under Maduro and “has not yet concluded.”

“That process remains open,” she said, adding that the releases sent a message that Venezuela was starting “a new political moment that allows for understanding of divergence and of political and ideological diversity."

That comment seemingly alluded to detainees held on what human rights groups say are politically motivated charges. Venezuela’s leading prisoner rights organization, Foro Penal, has verified at least 68 prisoners freed since the government under Rodríguez promised to release a “significant number” of prisoners.

The move was seen as an effort to comply with Washington's demands.

Despite sanctioning her for human rights violations during his first term, President Donald Trump enlisted Rodríguez to help secure U.S. control over Venezuela’s oil sales. To ensure the former Maduro loyalist does his bidding, he threatened Rodríguez with a “situation probably worse than Maduro,” who faces federal charges of drug-trafficking from a Brooklyn jail.

In endorsing Rodríguez, Trump sidelined María Corina Machado, the leader of Venezuela’s opposition who won a Nobel Peace Prize last year for her campaign to restore the nation’s democracy. Machado is scheduled to meet with Trump at the White House on Thursday.