Maduro remains the ‘legitimate president’ of Venezuela, acting president says – National
Venezuela’s acting president has said Nicolás Maduro is still the country’s ‘legitimate’ leader, despite being arrested in the US on drug-trafficking and narco-terrorism charges.
“I can tell you that President Nicolás Maduro is the legitimate president,” Delcy Rodriguez of Venezuela said in an interview with NBC News.
Maduro denied the charges in January.
With these words, Rodriguez continues to charge that the US operation last month to take Maduro last was a violation of Venezuela’s sovereignty as the Trump administration said it was cooperating with its effort to fix Venezuela’s large oil industry.
The US military rushed Maduro and his wife to New York to face conspiracy charges. Rodriguez said in an interview that the Maduros are “innocent.”
Rodriguez met with Energy Secretary Chris Wright on Wednesday in Caracas.
Wright is expected to meet with government officials, oil officials and others during a three-day visit to the South American country.
Wright’s visit comes as the administration of US President Donald Trump continues to lift sanctions to allow foreign companies to operate in Venezuela and help rebuild the country’s most important industry. This follows the enactment last month of Venezuela’s law that opened up the nation’s oil sector to private investment, reversing the doctrine of the so-called Socialist movement that has ruled the country for more than twenty years.
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“I bring today a message from President Trump,” Wright told reporters as he stood next to Rodríguez with flags from both countries behind him.
“He is passionately committed to completely transforming the relationship between the United States and Venezuela, which is part of a broader agenda to make the Americas greater and, to bring our countries closer together, to bring trade, peace, prosperity, jobs, opportunity to the people of Venezuela.”
Rodríguez was sworn into his new role after the Jan. 3 former President Nicolás Maduro in the US military attack on Caracas. He suggested overhauling the country’s energy law after Trump said his administration would control Venezuela’s oil exports and revive the ailing industry by attracting foreign investment.
Rodríguez on Wednesday acknowledged that Venezuela’s relationship with the US “has had its ups and downs” but said both countries are now working on a mutually beneficial “energy agenda”.
“The diplomatic dialogue should be … and the energy dialogue should be the right and proper channels for the US and Venezuela to maturely decide how to move forward,” he said.
© 2026 The Canadian Press
