Trump to meet Rodríguez in New York — MercoPress
US President Donald Trump will meet with Venezuela’s acting president, Delcy Rodríguez, in New York on Tuesday on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. This will be the first meeting between a US president and a Venezuelan leader in more than 11 years, MercoPress reports.
An informal meeting on the sidelines of the UN
US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz confirmed Rodríguez’s trip to the United States and said the meeting would be informal. In diplomatic practice, this format is called a pull-aside — a brief conversation on the sidelines of an event rather than an official bilateral meeting.
On the same day, Trump is scheduled to address the General Assembly, hold a bilateral meeting with UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham, and chair a meeting with leaders of Persian Gulf countries. He then plans to return to Washington.
Oil and countering drug trafficking
On August 28, Trump announced an agreement which, he said, gives the United States privileged access to more than 65 billion barrels of Venezuelan oil reserves. US authorities estimate this volume at about a quarter of Venezuela’s total oil reserves. Trump also said that part of the reserves could be used to replenish US strategic reserves.
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On Wednesday, Trump announced Venezuela’s removal from the list of states that, in Washington’s view, fail to meet their obligations in countering drug trafficking. An order published by the US State Department links this decision to positive progress under Rodríguez’s leadership and bilateral cooperation against cartels.
MercoPress also writes that Trump praised a joint military operation during which Héctor Rusthenford Guerrero, the leader of the Tren de Aragua group known as Niño Guerrero, was killed in June. The United States calls Nicolás Maduro an illegitimate former dictator and drug trafficker; according to the outlet, he is in US custody awaiting trial.
Previous contacts
The previous brief meeting between a US president and a Venezuelan leader took place in 2015 at the Summit of the Americas in Panama, when Barack Obama spoke with Nicolás Maduro. The last time a Venezuelan head of state addressed the UN General Assembly was in September 2018, when Maduro did so. Rodríguez attended Assembly sessions as foreign minister in 2016 and as vice president in 2019.
