Venezuela has "never" contemplated becoming the 51st US state, as suggested by US President Donald Trump following the abduction of deposed leader Nicolas Maduro, the country's acting president has said.

"That would never have been considered, because if there is one thing we Venezuelan men and women have, it is that we love our independence process, we love our heroes and heroines of independence," Delcy Rodriguez told reporters on Monday as she left a hearing at the International Court of Justice in The Hague.

Since the United States abducted Maduro on January 3, Trump has boasted of controlling the oil-rich Caribbean country, and reportedly told Fox News on Monday that he was "seriously" considering making Venezuela the 51st state.

In a post on his Truth Social network in March, the US leader wrote: "Good things are happening to Venezuela lately! I wonder what this magic is all about? STATEHOOD, #51, ANYONE?"

Asked about the prospect of US statehood, Rodriguez insisted her government was working with "a diplomatic cooperation agenda" with the United States.

Since taking over from Maduro, Rodriguez has overseen a thawing of relations with Washington while under heavy pressure to meet Trump's demands for access to the country's vast fossil fuel reserves.

Trump has repeatedly praised Rodriguez, who has passed reforms opening Venezuela's mining and oil sectors to foreign companies, notably from the US.

Rodriguez, who served as Maduro's vice president, has also pushed through an amnesty law that led to the release of hundreds of prisoners, though some 500 remain behind bars.

Essequibo dispute

The acting leader was in The Hague for a hearing at the United Nations' top court over a centuries-old dispute with Guyana over an oil-rich region, in her first trip outside the Caribbean since assuming power.

Venezuela claims the Essequibo region, currently administered by Guyana. This vast area comprises two-thirds of Guyana’s territory.

The discovery by ExxonMobil of offshore oil deposits in Essequibo gave Guyana – with a population of less than a million – the largest per capita crude oil reserves in the world.

ExxonMobil’s offshore discovery in Essequibo has given Guyana, a nation of fewer than a million people, the world’s largest crude oil reserves per capita.

The case examines whether the 1899 border under British rule remains valid or if the 1966 agreement, signed before Guyana's independence, should define the boundary.

In March, Washington and Caracas re-established diplomatic relations broken off by Maduro seven years prior.