MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Delcy Rodríguez arrives in New York for UN General Assembly, ahead of meeting with Trump

Her address to the General Assembly is scheduled for Thursday, September 24

Venezuela's acting president, Delcy Rodríguez, arrived in New York in the early hours of Monday to take part in the 81st session of the UN General Assembly, days ahead of a planned meeting with US President Donald Trump on Tuesday.

Rodríguez landed at Teterboro Airport in Bergen County, New Jersey, where she was received by Sectoral Vice President for the Economy Calixto Ortega; First Deputy Foreign Minister Oliver Blanco; and, on the US side, chargé d'affaires John Barrett. “We arrive in New York with the resolve and hope of a people who believe in the encounter and union between nations,” she wrote on X.

Her address to the General Assembly is scheduled for Thursday, September 24. In the UN's official document, Rodríguez is listed as head of state, a protocol designation that formalises her standing with the organisation.

Venezuela's Ministry of Communication and Information had previously released a message describing the occasion as “a pivotal moment” and stating that the country “regains its standing” and “rejoins the world's diplomatic dynamic.” These are the Venezuelan government's own characterizations of what the visit means.

Tuesday's meeting with Trump, confirmed last week by US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz, will be the first between the two leaders and, as we have previously established, the first between a US president and a Venezuelan leader in more than eleven years, since the brief meeting between Barack Obama and Nicolás Maduro at the Summit of the Americas in Panama in 2015. Maduro, whom Washington describes as an “illegitimate former dictator and drug trafficker,” remains in US custody awaiting trial, following the military operation that led to his capture in January.