Delcy Rodríguez arrived in the United States on Monday to represent Venezuela at the United Nations General Assembly, setting the stage for a controversial meeting with President Donald Trump that is drawing criticism from Venezuelans who accuse Washington of prioritizing oil and its relationship with her government over a democratic transition.

Rodríguez, Venezuela’s interim president, landed at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey ahead of her appearance at the U.N. gathering in New York. She is scheduled to meet Trump on Tuesday on the sidelines of the General Assembly, according to the White House.

The encounter will be the first face-to-face meeting between Trump and Rodríguez since U.S. forces captured Nicolás Maduro in Caracas in January and brought him to the United States to face federal drug-trafficking charges in New York.

It will also mark the first meeting between a sitting U.S. president and a Venezuelan leader in more than 11 years, since President Barack Obama and Maduro spoke briefly during the 2015 Summit of the Americas in Panama.

But the meeting comes amid growing criticism in Venezuela of Washington’s increasingly close relationship with Rodríguez, Maduro’s former vice president, and of a sweeping oil agreement reached last month that would give U.S. interests preferential access to some of the country’s enormous petroleum reserves.

Opposition figures and other critics of the interim government argue that Washington is giving legitimacy to an unelected government headed by a former Maduro loyalist who played a key role in his regime, even as a promised democratic transition remains unfinished. They have also questioned whether access to Venezuela’s oil has taken precedence over holding new elections and restoring democratic institutions.

The criticism has come not only from opponents of the former Maduro government. Some figures on the Chavista left have also objected to Rodríguez’s rapprochement with Washington and the opening of Venezuelan oil fields to greater foreign participation, arguing that the policies conflict with the movement’s traditional opposition to U.S. influence.

Rodríguez’s government, by contrast, has portrayed its new relationship with Washington as pragmatic diplomacy intended to revive Venezuela’s battered economy, attract foreign investment and return the country to the international stage.

Rodríguez’s arrival carries particular symbolism because Maduro, her former political boss, is being held in a New York-area federal detention facility only miles from the United Nations headquarters. Maduro last attended the General Assembly as Venezuela’s president in 2018.

Video posted on X by Venezuelan Communications Minister Miguel Ángel Pérez Pirela showed Rodríguez being received at the airport by Calixto Ortega, her vice president for economic affairs, and Oliver Blanco, first vice minister of foreign affairs and international trade, who also serves as vice foreign minister for Europe and North America.

John Barrett, the chargé d’affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Venezuela, was also at the airport to receive her.

“We arrived in New York with the determination and hope of a people who believe in encounter and unity among nations,” Rodríguez wrote on X after her arrival.

“At the 81st United Nations General Assembly, Venezuela will be present to make its voice heard and defend its principles, with a working agenda based on respect, cooperation and understanding,” she added, describing Venezuela as “a country committed to peace, dialogue and building common paths.”

Her government had confirmed Sunday that Rodríguez would attend the General Assembly but had not disclosed when she would travel.

In announcing her participation, Venezuela’s Communications Ministry said Rodríguez would “bring the voice of the nation to the world stage” and portrayed her appearance in New York as evidence that Venezuela had recovered its international standing and rejoined “the diplomatic dynamics of the planet.”

The White House announced Friday that Trump and Rodríguez would meet Tuesday during the annual gathering of world leaders in New York.

Mike Waltz, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., described the encounter as a “pull-aside” rather than a formal bilateral meeting. It will take place during a reception Trump is hosting for leaders attending the General Assembly.

Waltz did not say what the two leaders are expected to discuss.

Despite its informal format, the encounter carries considerable symbolic significance after decades of strained relations between Washington and Caracas.

Rodríguez served as Maduro’s vice president before becoming interim leader following the January U.S. military operation that captured him. Since then, Washington and Caracas have moved rapidly to rebuild relations, including restoring diplomatic contacts and negotiating a new economic relationship centered heavily on Venezuela’s oil industry.

Last month, the two governments announced a major energy agreement involving oil fields containing what the Trump administration says are about 65 billion barrels of recoverable crude. Trump has promoted the arrangement as an enormous economic and energy opportunity for the United States.

The deal, however, has become a major source of controversy inside Venezuela.

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