Venezuela's interim president Delcy Rodriguez will seek to work with the US, she said late on Sunday, as another key official who worked with captured president Nicolas Maduro continues to back the former leader.
"We extend an invitation to the US government to work together on a cooperation agenda, oriented toward shared development, within the framework of international law, and to strengthen lasting community coexistence," Rodriguez, who is also still acting as energy minister, said in a message posted in English on Instagram.
US president Donald Trump had threatened Rodriguez with a "fate worse than Maduro's" if she did not comply with the US. Rodriguez told Trump in the message that "our peoples and our region deserve peace and dialogue, not war".
Interior minister Diosdado Cabello, who controls the police and has military ties, has said that he recognizes only Maduro as president. Internal divisions between Venezuelan officials have emerged since the US seized Maduro during a military raid on charges of drug trafficking.
The US has backpedaled on claims that it will "run" Venezuela. US secretary of state Marco Rubio has instead said that the US will seek to influence Venezuelan policy, including opening space for billions in oil investment.
Chevron, the only US oil company that continues to operate in Venezuela under a sanctions waiver, continues to operate normally there, a company representative in Venezuela told Argus.
Rodriguez is expected to continue to serve as oil minister, a PdV source said.
