Reuters and DOJ clash over a report claiming the US is preparing charges against Delcy Rodriguez to pressure her

Reuters and the Department of Justice publicly clashed on Tuesday after the news agency published a report claiming that the Trump administration is quietly preparing a legal case against Chavista leader Delcy Rodriguez.

Reuters, which cited four unnamed Trump administration sources in publishing the story, claimed that federal prosecutors in the Miami-based Southern District of Florida have been drafting a criminal indictment against Rodriguez for alleged corruption and money laundering charges, in a strategy to increase the power of the White House over Venezuela's transitional regime following the capture of dictator Nicolás Maduro in January.

However, hours after the publication, DOJ Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche publicly rejected the information.

"Completely FALSE from @reuters. Not sure how such fake news makes its way to publication," Blanche tweeted.

The news agency ratified its information: "We stand by our reporting that the Department of Justice is preparing an indictment against Delcy Rodríguez, the new president of Venezuela."

The White House correspondent for the Spanish media outlet ABC, David Alandete, also defended Reuters' information and said that he did not understand why Blanche publicly denied the report.

"Reuters has published true information. There is a criminal investigation of Delcy by the prosecutor's office in Miami and it has to do with fraud," Alandete said. "It is part of a judicial offensive from when she was foreign minister. I don't know prosecutor Blanche's reasons for denying it but I know that he arrived at the prosecutor's office less than a year ago, before that he was a private lawyer."

Reuters, in addition to detailing that federal prosecutors in Miami are building a case against Rodriguez, also reported that U.S. officials have already warned the Chavista leader.

Likewise, according to Reuters, the U.S. presented Rodriguez with a list of at least seven former high-level Chavista officials whom it wants her to detain or keep in custody in Venezuela for possible extradition. Spanish newspaper ABC had previously reported on this list and the names the Trump administration seeks to capture. U.S. Ambassador to Venezuela Laura Dogu relayed the request directly to Rodriguez.

The dispute between Reuters and the DOJ comes at a time when a senior U.S. official is preparing to travel to Venezuela, Trump administration sources told VOZ.

In public, President Donald Trump has repeatedly praised Rodriguez for her cooperation with the United States after ascending to power on a transitional basis. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters that the plan for Venezuela consists of three phases: stabilization, recovery and transition.

In the last month, an amnesty law, widely questioned by opposition activists and critics of the Chavista regime, that would serve as a legal basis to free and pardon politically persecuted and opposition activists and leaders, has been pushed through in Venezuela.

Also, although it has been a slow process, the Chavista regime has released hundreds of political prisoners at Washington's request.