Donald Trump confirmed this Saturday that during his meeting with the interim president of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez, they discussed the topic of elections in Venezuela, and he took the opportunity to praise her with striking words in front of the press gathered in the White House gardens.
"Yes, we talked about elections. By the way, she was very kind and fantastic," Trump said, according to the EFE agency, when asked about the details of the meeting they held on Tuesday in New York, alongside the UN General Assembly.
The president also highlighted the bilateral oil cooperation and stated that "Venezuela is making a lot of money for its people" thanks to the entry of American oil companies into the country.
Tuesday's meeting was the first face-to-face contact between a U.S. president and a Venezuelan leader in over 11 years, taking place at the Lotte New York Palace Hotel and lasting approximately 15 minutes.
Rodríguez described it as a "historic" meeting and emphasized a cooperation agenda in energy, mining, and security. The meeting is part of the diplomatic rapprochement process between Washington and Caracas that began after Nicolás Maduro was captured by U.S. forces on January 3rd.
The Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, who was present at the meeting, explained that topics discussed included free elections, political transition, and economic reconstruction.
"We not only want free and fair elections, but also a lasting republic. What would threaten a lasting republic in Venezuela is if someone were elected and inherited an absolute economic and social catastrophe," he stated.
The next day, in her speech before the UN General Assembly, Rodríguez promised that "there will be elections in Venezuela" without setting a specific date or timeline, and without mentioning Maduro even once during her 19-minute address.
The rapprochement between both governments is not without tensions. Senator Rick Scott posted a strong message this Saturday in which he rejected Rodríguez's legitimacy and demanded full democratic conditions.
“I have been clear: Delcy Rodríguez is NOT the legitimate president of Venezuela”, wrote Scott, who referred to her as a “cartel leader” and demanded the release of all political prisoners and the return of María Corina Machado to Venezuela.
Machado, Nobel Peace Prize winner 2025 and the main opposition leader in Venezuela, is currently in Panama and has made at least seven unsuccessful attempts to return to the country since June, including three in a single day on September 22.
The State Department, for its part, clarified through its spokesperson Natalia Molano that the meeting "does not imply recognition of legitimacy" for the Chavista government.
The backdrop of this entire process is the oil agreement announced on August 28, which grants U.S. companies access to 17 Venezuelan fields with approximately 65 billion barrels of proven reserves for a period of 25 years.
A survey conducted by Meganálisis between September 15 and 19 with 1,627 Venezuelan adults found that 91% disapproved of the Trump-Rodríguez meeting and 80% rejected the oil agreement.
In a hypothetical electoral scenario, Machado would receive 61% of the votes compared to 3% for Rodríguez.
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