Maduro remains Venezuela’s ‘legitimate president,’ acting president said

Venezuela’s acting president said Nicolás Maduro remains the country’s ‘legitimate’ leader, despite being held in the U.S. on charges of federal drug trafficking.

Venezuela’s acting president said Nicolás Maduro remains the country’s ‘legitimate’ leader, despite being held in the U.S. on charges of federal drug trafficking and narco-terrorism.

“I can tell you President Nicolás Maduro is the legitimate president,” Venezuela’s Delcy Rodriguez said in an NBC News interview.

Maduro pleaded not guilty to the charges in January.

With the comments, Rodriguez is continuing to make the case that last month’s U.S. operation to capture Maduro last was a violation of Venezuelan sovereignty even as the Trump administration says she’s cooperating with their effort to overhaul Venezuela’s vast oil industry.

U.S. forces whisked Maduro and his wife to New York to face drug conspiracy charges. Rodriguez in the interview said the Maduros are “innocent.”

Rodriguez met with Energy Secretary Chris Wright on Wednesday in Caracas.

Wright is expected to meet with government officials, oil executives and others during a three-day visit to the South American country.

Wright’s visit comes as the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump continues to lift sanctions to allow foreign companies to operate in Venezuela and help rebuild the nation’s most important industry. It follows last month’s enactment of a Venezuelan law that opened the nation’s oil sector to private investment, reversing a tenet of the self-proclaimed socialist movement that has ruled the country for more than two decades.