By Luc Cohen and Marianna Parraga
NEW YORK, Sept 22 (Reuters) - US President Donald Trump met Venezuela's interim President Delcy Rodriguez late on Tuesday on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, their first meeting since American forces captured then-President Nicolas Maduro in a January raid.
The Venezuelan delegation, which includes the vice president of economy, the oil minister and officials from state oil company PDVSA, is focused on making the country look "investable," two people close
to the delegation told Reuters.
The pull-aside meeting during a reception Trump hosted during the UN General Assembly came during Rodriguez's first trip to the US since taking office. She is set to address the General Assembly on Wednesday afternoon.
A White House official said the meeting with Rodriguez included President Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, and Stephen Miller, assistant to the president and deputy chief of staff for policy.
Trump has built a working relationship with Rodriguez, who served as Maduro's vice president. But critics say Washington has sidelined the opposition led by Maria Corina Machado, dropping demands for free elections in favor of oil and investment deals with the interim government. A small group of Venezuelans protested in New York on Tuesday, calling for elections.
In his speech to the General Assembly on Tuesday morning, Trump called Maduro an "outlaw dictator," said hundreds of political prisoners had been freed since his capture and held up the raid as proof the US would use its "unmatched military might" to protect its interests in the Western Hemisphere.
"To the victor belong the spoils," he said, calling an oil deal his administration signed with Caracas last month "perhaps the biggest deal ever made." Trump has said he wants $100 billion in investment to flow into Venezuela's oil industry.
Rodriguez arrived in New York on Monday with a delegation that has been holding talks on energy, mining and debt with US officials, multilateral lenders and companies, according to sources. The head of the Inter-American Development Bank is working to secure approval for a $2.5 billion loan for Venezuela but has faced pushback from some members of the lender's board.
DEMONSTRATORS DEMAND FREE ELECTIONS
Earlier on Tuesday, more than 50 protesters gathered outside the UN to protest Rodriguez's presence, waving Venezuelan flags and carrying signs reading "No Vote No Oil" and "New Face, Same Regime." Many said they wanted Trump to push for free elections in the South American country.
The protesters sang the Venezuelan national anthem and chanted "Delcy, I swear, you're going to Brooklyn with Maduro" — a reference to the federal jail in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, just across the East River from the UN, where her predecessor is being held pending trial on drug trafficking charges.
"On one hand, it's outrageous to see part of the regime meeting with the authorities of this country's current government, but there's also no doubt that thanks to this government, today we are one step closer to freedom," said Miguel Eduardo Martinez, a 34-year-old social media manager who moved from Caracas in 2017.
"Delcy Rodriguez wasn't born on January 3, 2026. Delcy Rodriguez has been with the Chavista dictatorship for more than 20 years. She has been complicit," said Cesar Coello, who carried a sign depicting Rodriguez in an orange jumpsuit.
Chavismo is the political movement founded by the late Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez.
Coello said he hoped Trump and Rodriguez would discuss holding elections soon.
(Reporting by Luc Cohen and Marianna Parraga in New York; Additional reporting by Gram Slattery, Writing by Nathan Crooks; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani and Stephen Coates)
