Caracas (OrinocoTribune.com)—Early on Monday morning, Venezuelan Acting President Delcy Rodríguez arrived in New York to lead Venezuela’s delegation to the 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), beginning a high-level agenda that includes meetings with UN Secretary-General António Guterres, US President Donald Trump, and international financial officials.Rodríguez landed at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey and was received by Vice President for Economy Calixto Ortega, Deputy Foreign Minister Oliver Blanco, and US Chargé d’Affaires in Venezuela John Barrett. Her reception by Washington’s senior diplomat assigned to Caracas underscored the continuing, yet profoundly unequal, normalization of bilateral relations since the January 3 US military attack on Venezuela and the kidnapping of President Nicolás Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores.“We arrived in New York with the firmness and hope of a people who believe in meeting and unity among nations,” Rodríguez wrote after landing. She said Venezuela would defend its principles through “a working agenda based on respect, cooperation, and understanding.”The Venezuelan government formally confirmed Rodríguez’s trip on Sunday, days after the visit appeared only in foreign press reports and a provisional speakers list. Rodríguez is scheduled to address the General Assembly during the afternoon session on Thursday, in which Venezuela was assigned the third speaking slot.The visit marks Venezuela’s return to in-person UNGA participation at presidential level for the first time since 2018. It also places the acting president only a few kilometers away from the prison where the US government continues to hold President Maduro hostage following his abduction from Caracas.Development financing and reconstructionRodríguez’s first publicly reported working meeting was with Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) President Ilan Goldfajn and other senior bank officials at Venezuela’s recently renovated UN mission headquarters.According to the Venezuelan account, the two sides reviewed mechanisms for technical, financial, and multilateral cooperation, with an emphasis on investment, infrastructure, and social development. Rodríguez was accompanied by Oliver Blanco, members of Venezuela’s UN mission, and Oil Minister Paulo Henao.Goldfajn offered a more detailed account to mainstream media, saying the bank is preparing a two-year engagement plan for Venezuela centered on electricity and social protection. The plan reportedly includes technical missions to examine the country’s macroeconomic framework and official data and to estimate investment requirements across different sectors.The IDB president’s explanation gives the meeting a more concrete overview than the usual language of “strengthening cooperation.” Venezuela is seeking financing and technical support for reconstruction after the devastating June earthquakes. Meanwhile, the bank is attempting to rebuild an institutional presence after years where Washington’s regime-change policy helped isolate Caracas from multilateral financing.Rodríguez was also scheduled to meet Guterres later on Monday. No detailed agenda had been published at the time of writing. Yet, Venezuela’s UN voting rights, the humanitarian and reconstruction consequences of the earthquakes, the continued US imprisonment of President Maduro and Flores, and the remaining unilateral coercive measures are all matters of direct relevance to the relationship.As Orinoco Tribune reported two days ago, Venezuela remains listed under the UN Charter’s Article 19 restrictions because of contribution arrears. Caracas has repeatedly denounced the US financial blockade for preventing it from paying the UN dues.Foreign Minister Félix Plasencia separately met UK Minister for the Americas Chris Elmore. The British official said the discussion covered earthquake recovery and reconstruction, human rights, and what London describes as a “democratic transition.” The latter formulation reflects the UK government’s political perspective rather than a shared Venezuelan characterization of the country’s constitutional process. The encounter nevertheless followed the recent agreement between Caracas and London to raise the level of bilateral relations and pursue talks about sovereign Venezuelan assets, including the gold illegally retained in the Bank of England.First face-to-face meeting with TrumpThe most consequential engagement is expected on Tuesday. Rodríguez is scheduled to meet Trump in person for the first time. US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz described it as a “pull-aside” rather than a full formal bilateral meeting. Washington has not disclosed a detailed agenda.The encounter follows months of direct contacts and negotiations covering oil, gas, electricity, mining, sanctions, diplomatic relations, and reconstruction. On Monday, mainstream media reported that members of the Venezuelan delegation were also holding talks in the United States concerning energy, debt, and mining, potentially leading to new agreements. Venezuelan officials had conducted months of preparatory negotiations, including recent discussions with US energy and investment companies aiming at setting the conditions for a foreign debt restructuring.Washington presents the new relationship as one of the principal achievements of Trump’s hegemonic stand and routinely portrays Rodríguez’s government as operating under US supervision. Caracas, by contrast, has described its policy as a pragmatic defense of peace, economic recovery, and national interests under conditions produced by military aggression, economic strangulation, and President Maduro’s abduction.Trump has openly boasted that the United States will obtain privileged access to Venezuelan petroleum and has described bilateral energy arrangements chiefly in terms of benefits for US companies and consumers. Venezuela therefore enters the talks facing an enormous power imbalance, with its constitutional president and first lady imprisoned by the same government with which it must negotiate.The meeting has generated sharply divergent reactions. Several analysts and left-wing voices outside Venezuela have criticized Rodríguez’s visit and her agreements with Washington as evidence that the United States now exercises decisive control over Venezuelan policy. That concern cannot be dismissed, particularly when US officials themselves employ colonial language and claim oversight of the country’s strategic industries.Most organized Chavista forces, however, have taken a different and generally favorable view of the visit. While not denying the coercive environment or the dangers of concessions, they broadly regard negotiations as a tactical necessity to preserve Chavismo, recover the economy, and secure the eventual liberation of the presidential couple. From that perspective, analysts claim that dialogue under duress is not the same as political surrender, and the decisive responsibility remains with the imperial power that invaded Venezuela, seized its president, and continues to use sanctions and control of financial channels as leverage.Meanwhile, Venezuelan far-right figures and personalities in the US exile establishment have warned that Trump’s public embrace of Rodríguez marginalizes the opposition that promoted and supported the January attack. For sectors that expected Washington to install them in power, the image of a Chavista acting president meeting Trump at the UN is being received as a political slap in the face. María Corina Machado, once courted as Trump’s closest Venezuelan ally, now confronts a US administration that repeatedly praises Rodríguez and has shown little interest in placing the far right in control of the state.Another announced engagement involves Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, who said preparations were completed for talks with Rodríguez in New York aimed at rebuilding bilateral relations, including energy cooperation. Caracas had not publicly confirmed the meeting by the drafting cutoff. Persad-Bissessar’s initiative is notable after her support for the US military buildup in the Caribbean and praise for the January 3 attack, positions that sharply damaged relations with Venezuela.President Maduro, New York and the UNRodríguez’s presence carries an unavoidable symbolism as President Maduro remains imprisoned in New York. Many Chavistas have expressed the hope that she could meet him or even return to Venezuela with him. As of Monday evening, however, neither Caracas nor Washington had announced a visit, and there was no official information indicating that one had been authorized.President Maduro’s liberation during this trip appears highly improbable. He is being held under a US federal process whose very premise is rejected by Venezuela. Moreover, Washington would have to authorize any prison visit and any change in his custody.President Maduro last appeared in person before the UN General Assembly on September 26, 2018, when he condemned Washington’s economic, political, and media aggression and offered dialogue despite the threats against Venezuela. He later addressed the General Debate by recorded video in 2020 and 2021. The 2021 intervention was his fifth UNGA address as head of state, following speeches in 2014, 2015, 2018, and 2020.WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has also been reported in New York in recent days, although details of his presence and activities have not been publicly confirmed by his organization or legal team. The coincidence is notable because Barry Pollack—the attorney who secured Assange’s freedom after years of US persecution—is now President Maduro’s lead defense lawyer.Pollack’s fees are being covered by the Venezuelan government. Washington initially used its sanctions regime to block Rodríguez’s government from paying the defense, prompting Pollack to argue that the restriction violated President Maduro’s right to counsel. US authorities later amended the authorization to permit Venezuela to pay the legal fees.Regional contacts before the tripRodríguez’s New York agenda followed an important bilateral meeting in Caracas with Paraguayan President Santiago Peña. The two governments agreed to begin a progressive process to restore diplomatic and consular relations and expand cooperation, although Paraguay’s debt of over $300 million to PDVSA remains unresolved. Peña traveled onward to New York after the talks.Venezuela and Paraguay Sign Cooperation Agreement During Santiago Peña’s Visit (+PDVSA Debt)Foreign Minister Plasencia also met with Association of Caribbean States (AEC) Secretary-General Noemí Espinoza Madrid in Caracas shortly before Rodríguez’s departure. According to Diario Vea, the meeting reviewed regional integration and cooperation priorities.The AEC is an intergovernmental body of the Greater Caribbean. Its integration work has a strong economic and commercial component—including trade facilitation, maritime and air connectivity, transport, and sustainable tourism—alongside disaster-risk reduction and protection of the Caribbean Sea. The Caracas meeting therefore complemented Rodríguez’s UN agenda by reinforcing Venezuela’s regional connections before the diplomatic agenda in New York. Special for Orinoco Tribune by staffOT/JRE/SF