Acting Venezuelan President Says Maduro Remains Legitimate Leader

By Staff, Agencies

Venezuela’s acting president, Delcy Rodríguez, said that Nicolás Maduro remains the country’s legitimate leader despite his capture by US forces a month ago, in remarks to NBC News on Thursday.

Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores were seized in a US military raid on Caracas on January 3 and flown to New York, where they are being held in federal custody on drug trafficking charges. Both have pleaded not guilty.

Rodríguez, who previously served as Maduro’s vice president, assumed power following the intervention.

Rodríguez insisted that both Maduro and Flores are innocent and condemned US actions.

At the same time, she has moved to normalize relations with Washington, telling NBC she has been invited to the US capital and is “contemplating coming there once we establish this cooperation.”

US Energy Secretary Chris Wright arrived in Caracas on Wednesday to assess the country’s oil industry and hold talks with Rodríguez on overhauling Venezuela’s energy sector and revitalizing its economy. He described relations between Caracas and Washington as “at a pivot in history.”

The diplomatic thaw comes as Washington has openly sought greater access to Venezuela’s vast oil wealth.

The country holds the world’s largest proven oil reserves, roughly one-fifth of the global total.

Wright announced that the years-long US embargo on Venezuelan oil is “essentially over” and called for a “dramatic increase” in output, with revenues directed toward specific projects.

US President Donald Trump warned Rodríguez that if she “doesn’t do what’s right, she is going to pay a very big price, probably bigger than Maduro.”

Rodríguez previously pushed back against Trump’s threats, saying she has had “enough of Washington’s orders” and insisting Venezuelans alone would “resolve our differences and our internal conflicts.”