In brief
In a high‑profile meeting at the UN General Assembly, Donald Trump held talks with Delcy Rodríguez, the interim president who succeeded Nicolás Maduro after a U.S. raid on Caracas. Their conversation centered on a strategic cooperation agenda covering energy, mining, and security. Rodríguez’s government has already granted a U.S. firm a 100‑year concession on 17 oilfields, a deal Trump lauded as the world’s biggest oil contract. Trump’s remarks echo his long‑standing contention that Latin America’s oil reserves are largely controlled by the United States. The meeting underscores the United States’ intent to cement influence in Venezuela while Maduro awaits trial in New York.
On Monday at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, President Donald Trump held a face‑to‑face meeting with Venezuela’s interim president, Delcy Rodríguez, the first time the two leaders have spoken in person since the United States supported Rodríguez’s assumption of power after the U.S. raid on Caracas that led to the arrest of Nicolás Maduro.
Rodríguez succeeded Maduro shortly after U.S. forces seized him in the capital, and she was sworn in as interim leader by Venezuela’s National Assembly days later—with the White House’s blessing. The meeting took place a few kilometres from the New York jail where Maduro awaits trial on drug‑trafficking and other charges.
During the conversation, the two leaders discussed advancing a cooperation agenda in strategic areas such as energy, mining and security. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles were also present.
Rodríguez’s government has signed an agreement that allows a U.S.‑led company to control more than 65 billion barrels of Venezuela’s oil, a concession that spans 17 oilfields and lasts 100 years—an arrangement Trump has called “the biggest oil deal in world history.” In his address to the UN, Trump declared that the U.S. and Venezuela control “more than 60 % of the world’s oil” and added, “To the victor belong the spoils.”
Rodríguez is scheduled to address the UN on Wednesday. Her earlier tenure as vice‑president to Maduro was cut off by U.S. sanctions in 2018, though those restrictions were lifted earlier this year. Meanwhile, Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado has repeatedly been barred from re‑entering the country.
