Delcy Rodriguez was sworn in as Venezuela's interim president in a parliamentary session that began with demands for the release of ousted leader Nicolas Maduro from US custody, BBC reported. 

Rodriguez, 56, vice president since 2018, said she was pained by what she called the "kidnapping" of Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, who were seized by US forces in an overnight raid on Saturday.

In a dramatic scene inside a New York court room two hours earlier, Maduro had insisted he was still president of Venezuela as he pleaded not guilty to four charges of drug trafficking and terrorism, according to BBC.