US President Donald Trump met Venezuela’s interim President Delcy Rodríguez late Tuesday on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, their first face-to-face meeting since American forces abducted President Nicolás Maduro in a January raid.
The meeting took place just kilometres from the New York jail where Maduro awaits trial on drug trafficking charges. Secretary of State Marco Rubio also attended.
Rodríguez called the talks a step toward deeper cooperation with Washington. “Venezuela and the United States share a historic relationship that, in this new phase, we are called upon to steer through dialogue,” she said on Telegram. She added that her administration would pursue “concrete results and collective benefits” for Venezuelans.
The meeting comes weeks after Rodríguez’s government signed an oil agreement handing a US-led company 100-year concessions over 17 Venezuelan oilfields, control of more than 65 billion barrels, over a fifth of the country’s reserves. Trump has called it “perhaps the biggest deal ever made” and said he wants $100 billion in investment flowing into Venezuela’s oil industry.
In his UN address Monday, Trump said the US and Venezuela now control “more than 60%” of the world’s oil. “To the victor belong the spoils,” he said.
Outside the UN, more than 50 protesters waved Venezuelan flags and held signs reading “No Vote, No Oil” and “New Face, Same Regime.” Critics argue that Washington has sidelined opposition leader Maria Corina Machado by prioritising oil and investment deals with Rodríguez’s interim government.
Rodríguez is scheduled to address the UN General Assembly today.
