WASHINGTON, Feb 12 (Reuters) – Venezuelan interim leader President Delcy Rodriguez said she has been invited to the United States, according an interview released Thursday by NBC News as U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright visited Caracas.
“I have been invited to the States,” Rodríguez was quoted as saying. “We’re contemplating coming there once we establish this cooperation and we can move forward with everything.”
Rodriguez, the former vice president and oil minister, was sworn in as Venezuela’s interim president in early January after the United States deposed President Nicolas Maduro.
She and Wright face the Herculean task of organizing the recovery of Venezuela’s oil industry after decades of underinvestment, mismanagement and U.S. sanctions, while putting U.S. investors at the front of the line.
However, Rodriguez told NBC that she believes Maduro, who is being held in the United States on drugs and weapons charges, remains the legitimate leader of their country.
“I can tell you President Nicolás Maduro is the legitimate president. I will tell you this as a lawyer, that I am. Both President Maduro and Cilia Flores, the first lady, are both innocent,” she said.
(Reporting by Doina Chiacu; editing by Susan Heavey)
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