The United Nations General Assembly’s hard‑to‑miss buzz this week included the first real‑time handshake between former US President Donald Trump and Delcy Rodríguez, Venezuela’s interim president. The meeting followed the US‑backed raid that seized Chávez‑era leader Nicolás Maduro from Caracas and placed him in a New York jail.
Across the UN square, a few kilometres from the jail, the two leaders discussed a “cooperation agenda” focused on energy, mining and security. Rodríguez’s government, which seized power after the raid, has already signed a 100‑year concession letting a US‑led company control more than 65 billion barrels of Venezuelan oil – roughly a fifth of the country’s reserves.
Trump lauded the deal as “the biggest oil deal in world history” and declared that the US and Venezuela now “control more than 60 % of the world’s oil.” The dialogue set a new tone for Washington’s influence in South America and hinted at deeper ties on security and trade.
The UN will hear Rodríguez’s full address on Wednesday, while the last‑minute shifts in sanctions on her see her freed of US restrictions that were lifted in April. The nation‑wide vote and opposition struggles—like Maria Corina Machado’s repeated travel bar– illustrate a volatile political landscape where power is shifting fast.
