Delcy Rodríguez, the interim president of Venezuela, met with U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday, September 22, at the Lotte New York Palace hotel. The meeting occurred during a private reception for foreign leaders on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. The encounter took place without media present. Rodríguez had arrived in the U.S. the previous day and described her arrival as "head held high," according to reports from the Spanish-language outlet El País América. She also attended Trump's speech at the UN, during which he claimed to have removed Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in a January raid and secured control of Venezuela's oil resources through an August agreement granting the U.S. preferential access to 20 percent of Venezuela's oil reserves—approximately 65 billion barrels of crude oil. Political scientist María Isabel Puerta, writing for Efecto Cocuyo, suggested that Rodríguez is "the hostage of Trump," implying that the meeting signals a dramatic shift in Venezuela's diplomatic approach. Rodríguez later expressed gratitude for the meeting, stating on her official X (formerly Twitter) account that she had held a "historic meeting" with Trump to discuss strengthening bilateral relations, as reported by Venezuelan media outlet Analítica. Efecto Cocuyo described the meeting as a "humiliation" for Venezuela, noting that the image of Rodríguez meeting with Trump was unimaginable just months ago, when the Chavista movement—Venezuela's ruling political ideology since 1999—openly defied the U.S. In 2006, former Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez criticized the U.S. presence at the UN, claiming the venue "smelled of sulfur" after the visit of George W. Bush, whom Chávez's regime had compared to the devil. Maduro and Rodríguez, who was then vice president, maintained a similarly defiant stance toward the U.S. until Maduro's removal, which shifted Venezuela's position toward Washington. The Venezuelan newspaper El Nacional suggested that the meeting benefits both Trump and Rodríguez: it allows Trump to display dominance over Venezuela without prolonged conflict, while Rodríguez gains authority not through election but through the support of her new protector. The newspaper raised a question about Venezuela's readiness to hold elections, noting that if the country is prepared to produce oil, welcome investments, engage in dialogue with Washington, and re-enter the international diplomatic scene, what else is needed for it to be ready to vote? José Luis Farías, a university professor and former deputy, wrote in an op-ed published by La Patilla that the Chavistas will attempt to "sell what remains" of the country, which is currently in an economic crisis. He suggested that Venezuela's oil, as well as its debt and significant mineral reserves of gold and rare metals, are likely targets for such efforts. Farías concluded, "Yesterday anti-imperialists, today hosts of the empire," highlighting the dramatic ideological shift in Venezuela's leadership.