Why Trump’s Planned Meeting With Venezuela’s Acting Leader Matters
Key Facts
Since US forces seized Nicolás Maduro in January, Venezuela’s interim government has worked with Washington on oil, drugs and sanctions. Donald Trump is now set to meet its acting president in New York, while Paraguay’s leader visits Caracas.
Donald Trump will meet Venezuela’s acting president, Delcy Rodríguez, in New York on Tuesday, US ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz said. Paraguay’s president, Santiago Peña, is due to meet Rodríguez in Caracas today, Saturday 19 September.
Why This Matters Beyond Venezuela
Venezuela holds about 303 billion barrels of proven crude reserves, nearly a fifth of the world total, on OPEC figures. Its political direction therefore matters to oil markets, to US policy in the region and to millions of Venezuelans abroad.
UN figures from August 2023 counted more than 7.7 million Venezuelan refugees and migrants living outside the country. Most of them, about 6.5 million, lived in Latin America and the Caribbean, according to the same figures.
President Nicolás Maduro was seized in a US military operation on 3 January 2026 and taken to the United States. He faces narco-terrorism and drug trafficking charges there and remains in custody awaiting trial.
Rodríguez, his vice president since June 2018, took over as interim president after Venezuela’s Supreme Tribunal of Justice ordered it. She had also served as foreign minister, finance minister and, from August 2024, oil minister.
Since January she has worked with Washington on several fronts, from oil to drug policy. A face-to-face meeting with Trump would show how far that relationship has moved in nine months.
Who Confirmed the New York Meeting
The confirmation came from Waltz on a call with reporters on Friday 18 September, the Associated Press (AP) reported. AP and several outlets headlined it as a White House announcement.
Waltz described the encounter as a pull-aside, a more casual format than a formal bilateral sit-down. He did not set out an agenda in the accounts published so far.
No written White House statement, readout or State Department notice on the meeting could be found by Saturday morning. The confirmation rests on Waltz’s spoken remarks as reported by AP and CNN.
CNN en Español quoted Waltz on the sequence of Trump’s day. He said Trump would speak to the General Assembly on Tuesday morning and then hold several bilateral meetings.
Waltz then said Trump would take part in a pull-aside with acting President Rodríguez. He added that Trump would fly back to the White House that same night.
Perfil, the Argentine outlet, reported that the meeting would take place at a reception Trump hosts for leaders. It also reported that the White House had not said what the two would discuss.
What Caracas Has Said
The Venezuelan government had issued no public confirmation of the trip or the meeting by Saturday morning. CNN said it had asked Caracas for more information.
La Nación of Buenos Aires reported that Rodríguez’s visit had not been officially confirmed. It added that no formal meeting had yet been scheduled.
The newspaper also cited a US official quoted by Axios, who said nothing was closed and the decision rested with Trump. La Nación also reported reservations inside the White House about a face-to-face encounter.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio had opened the door earlier this month during a visit to Ecuador. Asked about meeting her, he said it would probably happen if she came to New York.
The First Such Encounter Since 2015
MercoPress reported that the meeting would be the first between a US president and a Venezuelan leader in more than eleven years. The last was a brief exchange between Barack Obama and Maduro.
That exchange took place at the Summit of the Americas in Panama in April 2015. Voice of America reported that Obama administration officials said it lasted only a few minutes.
Maduro called that meeting frank and serious at the time, according to the same report. Relations then worsened, and diplomatic ties were suspended in 2019.
CNN reported that the two governments announced the restoration of diplomatic and consular relations in March this year. MercoPress said Washington acted after formally recognising the interim government.
How Washington and Caracas Moved Closer
CBS News reported that Rodríguez was sworn in as interim president early on Monday 5 January. Her brother, Jorge Rodríguez, president of the National Assembly since 2021, swore her in.
No published legal instrument sets out the mechanics or the end date of this transition. The Rio Times covered that constitutional gap in detail on 18 September.
MercoPress cited an oil agreement Trump announced on 28 August covering more than 65 billion barrels of reserves. On Wednesday 16 September, Trump removed Venezuela from the list of countries failing their counter-narcotics commitments.
He cited “positive steps taken under interim President Delcy Rodríguez” in the determination. Washington had sanctioned Rodríguez in September 2018, adding her to its list of blocked persons.
Bloomberg Línea, as relayed by Contrapunto, reported that the US Treasury removed her from its sanctions list on 1 April. That cleared the formal path for her to travel to the United States.
Her Slot at the General Assembly
Rodríguez appears as head of state on the provisional list of speakers for the general debate. Venezuelan and Colombian outlets that saw the list place her on Thursday 24 September.
Últimas Noticias reported she is in the afternoon session, after the speakers from Uruguay and Senegal. NTN24 placed her third in the 15:00 to 21:00 session, citing the official list.
El Nacional called the list provisional, so the slot can still move. The Venezuelan government had not announced the date itself.
MercoPress noted that the last Venezuelan head of state to address the Assembly was Maduro, in September 2018. Rodríguez spoke there as foreign minister in 2016 and as vice president in 2019.
A UN Report Lands the Same Week
The meeting comes days after a critical report by the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Venezuela. The UN Human Rights Council, the UN’s main rights body, created that mission in September 2019.
The mission released its annual report and a longer conference room paper on 16 September. It presented them to the Council in Geneva on 18 September.
The mission said at least 19 officials it had previously linked to gross violations remain in, or moved to, key posts. It did not publish a new list of names in its press release.
It found a significant decline in long-term detentions after 3 January and the release of hundreds of people. It still said the institutions responsible for repression remain intact.
Non-governmental groups estimate that between 379 and 500 people remain detained for political reasons, the mission said. It also reported 64 new cases of torture after 3 January.
Sofía Macher, who chairs the mission, said the reduction in repression does not yet amount to a transformation of the system. Alex Neve, a member, urged the United States to press for real change.
Paraguay Returns to Caracas
Peña, a former finance minister from the conservative Colorado Party, has been Paraguay’s president since August 2023. He was due in Caracas at about 13:00 on Saturday for talks and lunch with Rodríguez, the Spanish agency EFE reported.
Caracas is his first stop before the General Assembly. Venezuela broke relations with Paraguay on 6 January 2025, according to an EFE report from Caracas at the time.
The Maduro government objected to Peña’s backing for opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia. Peña had recognised González as the winner of the July 2024 presidential election.
Venezuela’s National Electoral Council had proclaimed Maduro the winner. Foreign Minister Rubén Ramírez described Saturday’s talks as a meeting of mutual respect.
He said it would start a dialogue leading to the restoration of diplomatic or consular relations. Ramírez was also explicit that ties would not be restored on this visit.
“We are not yet going to establish diplomatic relations on this occasion,” he said, as quoted by El Nacional. He said the agenda covers migration, economic and commercial development and the welfare of Venezuelans.
It also covers a Paraguayan debt for Venezuelan oil that Asunción puts at US$300 million. Ramírez said the two sides differ over interest on that debt, which is before the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris.
The debt is owed to Venezuela’s state oil company, PDVSA. Peña is the second sitting head of state to visit Rodríguez in Caracas, EFE reported.
Colombia’s then president, Gustavo Petro, went first, on 24 April. Peña’s visit therefore comes almost five months after Petro’s.
What It Means If You Are Venezuelan in Paraguay or Invest in Venezuela
Venezuela withdrew its diplomatic staff from Paraguay in January 2025, according to its statement at the time. Any consular agreement would matter first for passports, civil records and document legalisation.
Paraguay also dropped visa-free entry for Venezuelans after Maduro’s capture, El Nacional reported. On 9 January the foreign ministry said any entry would need prior checks of documents and criminal records.
That visa regime stays in place until Asunción decides otherwise. Saturday’s meeting does not change it on its own.
For investors, the New York meeting is a signal about the durability of the US-Venezuela arrangement. The August oil agreement and the drug certification decision both depend on that relationship.
The format announced is informal, and no signing of any document has been announced. A written readout, if one is issued, would be the first record of what was agreed.
Paraguay’s oil debt is a small but live commercial claim between the two states. Any settlement terms would be the first concrete business outcome of the rapprochement.
What Is Not Yet Known
It is not known what Trump and Rodríguez will discuss, or whether a readout will follow. Neither government has published an agenda.
Caracas has not confirmed the trip, though the speakers list places Rodríguez in New York on Thursday. Pull-asides are informal and can still slip, but none has been cancelled.
It is not known whether Peña and Rodríguez will sign anything on Saturday. Ramírez spoke only of beginning a road towards formal relations when conditions allow.
Nor is it known how Rodríguez will respond to the UN mission’s findings at the Assembly. Her government had not answered the report publicly in the sources reviewed.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does the Trump-Rodríguez meeting matter?
It would be the first meeting between a US president and a Venezuelan leader since April 2015. It would also show how far ties have moved since Maduro’s capture in January.
Is it a formal bilateral meeting?
No, Waltz called it a pull-aside, which is more casual than a formal bilateral sit-down. No written White House statement or agenda had been published by Saturday morning.
Has Paraguay restored relations with Venezuela?
Not yet, as Foreign Minister Rubén Ramírez said relations would not be re-established on this visit. He described Saturday’s meeting as the start of a dialogue towards restoring diplomatic or consular ties.
When does Rodríguez speak at the UN?
Provisional speakers lists reported by Venezuelan and Colombian media place her on Thursday 24 September. The list is provisional, so the date and time can still change.
Sources: Associated Press via The Daily Gazette, Waltz confirms Trump pull-aside with Rodríguez, CNN en Español, Waltz on Tuesday schedule, MercoPress, first encounter with a Venezuelan leader in 11 years, OHCHR, Fact-Finding Mission on Venezuela report, 16 September 2026, El Nacional, Ramírez on the Peña visit and relations, EFE via Infobae, Peña second president to visit Rodríguez, EFE via Infobae, Venezuela breaks relations with Paraguay, 6 January 2025, Voice of America, Obama meets Maduro in Panama, April 2015, Statista, Venezuela’s proven crude oil reserves (OPEC data), UN Network on Migration, R4V figures on Venezuelan refugees and migrants, Wikipedia, Delcy Rodríguez, Wikipedia, Santiago Peña
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