VENEZUELA’S new interim president Delcy Rodriguez must provide the United States with “total access” to its oil reserves, US President Donald Trump said on Sunday evening.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday night, Mr Trump was asked what his government wants from Ms Rodriguez following its kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores at the weekend.

“Total access,” Mr Trump said. “We need total access to the oil and other things in their country that allow us to rebuild [it].”

Former vice-president Ms Rodriguez was officially sworn in as interim president today, while maintaining that Mr Maduro remains the legitimate president and must be released.

In a social media post on Sunday, she said: “We invite the US government to collaborate with us on an agenda of co-operation oriented towards shared development within the framework of international law to strengthen lasting community coexistence.”

But when asked on Sunday night who the US was working with in the country, Mr Trump said: “We’re dealing with the people who just got sworn in. And don’t ask me who’s in charge ’cause I’ll give you an answer that’ll be very controversial.”

What does that mean, asked a reporter standing next to Trump. “It means we’re in charge,” he said.

Mr Trump also took aim at Colombia and President Gustavo Petro.

“Colombia’s very sick too,” he said. “Run by a sick man who likes making cocaine and selling it to the United States. And he’s not going to be doing it very long.”

Asked if that might mean another attack on a peaceful Latin American country, Trump said: “Sounds good to me.”

Mr Petro took to social media today to say: “The US is the first country in the world to bomb a South American capital in all of human history.”

He called on Latin American countries to unite or risk being “treated as a servant and slave.”

Meanwhile, Mr Maduro was set to make his first appearance in a US courtroom today on the narco-terrorism charges the Trump administration used to justify seizing him, killing his guards, bombing the capital and abducting him to New York.

Mr Maduro and his wife were expected to appear at noon before a judge for a brief, but required, legal proceeding that will likely kick off a prolonged legal fight over whether he can be put on trial in the US.

His lawyers are expected to contest the legality of his arrest, arguing that he is immune from prosecution as a sovereign head of a foreign state. The US, however, doesn’t recognise him as Venezuela’s legitimate leader.

Mr Maduro and Ms Flores could face life in a US prison if convicted of the Trump administration’s narco-terrorism charges.

Beijing demanded that the US release Mr Maduro and Ms Flores immediately today.

“The US’s move is in clear violation of international law, basic norms in international relations, and the purposes and principles of the UN Charter,” China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told journalists this morning.

“China calls on the US to ensure the personal safety of President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, release them at once, stop toppling the government of Venezuela and resolve issues through dialogue and negotiation.”

The leaders of Spain, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Uruguay issued a joint statement on Sunday condemning the kidnapping.

“These actions constitute a dangerous precedent for peace, regional security and pose a risk to the civil population,” the joint statement said.

“We reiterate that the situation in Venezuela must be resolved exclusively through dialogue and in accordance with the will of the Venezuelan people, without interference and adhering to international law.

“We express our concern over any attempt to control, through government or administrative means, as well as the external appropriation of [Venezuela’s] natural and strategic resources, which are incompatible with international law and pose a threat to the economic, political and social stability of the region.”

Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said: “In the past decades, interventions were justified under slogans such as democracy and human rights. Today, they openly say the issue is Venezuela’s oil.”

“Claims that another country can run Venezuela are unacceptable to any nation, including the Venezuelan people, and reflect a return to colonial-era thinking.”

Back on Air Force One on Sunday, reporters also asked Mr Trump if he expected to take similar action on Greenland.

“Well, I don’t want to talk about Greenland. Let’s talk about Venezuela, Russia, Ukraine. We’ll worry about Greenland in about two months,” Mr Trump said as Republican Senator Lindsay Graham and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick sniggered beside him.

“By the way, I will say this about Greenland. We need Greenland from a national security situation. It’s so strategic. Right now, Greenland is covered with Russian and Chinese ships. We need Greenland from a standpoint of national security, and Denmark is not going to be able to do it. 

“You know what Denmark did recently to boost up security in Greenland? They added one more dog sleigh.”