Caracas (OrinocoTribune.com)—Venezuela’s Acting President Delcy Rodríguez met with the heads of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, as well as United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, in New York on Monday.
The meetings put Venezuela’s earthquake reconstruction, access to its financial resources, and foreign debt at the center of an agenda unfolding under the shadow of Washington’s January 3 military attack and the continued US detention of President Nicolás Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores.
Rodríguez first met Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) President Ilan Goldfajn at Venezuela’s UN mission. While the Venezuelan side described the discussion in terms of renewed technical and financial cooperation, Goldfajn told mainstream media that the bank is preparing a two-year engagement plan focused partly on electricity and social protection.
Delcy Rodríguez then met IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva. Rodríguez was accompanied at the financial meetings by senior officials, including Vice President for Economic Affairs Calixto Ortega, Hydrocarbons Minister Paula Henao, and Foreign Minister Félix Plasencia. Georgieva’s account emphasized recovery from the devastating June 24 earthquakes. She welcomed the resumption of engagement and offered IMF capacity development and policy advice; she announced no loan or debt agreement.
In April, the IMF resumed dealings with Venezuela after a suspension dating back to 2019. Acting President Rodríguez said at the time that the step restored Venezuela’s membership rights and access to its own resources, without committing the country to an IMF lending program.
In July, Venezuela accessed US $346 million from its IMF reserve position for earthquake reconstruction. The IMF stated that any new financing would require a request from Caracas, economic data, and policy commitments. Its access to Venezuela’s data and the conditions attached to any future loan will be central questions as talks proceed.
Rodríguez also met World Bank Group President Ajay Banga to discuss technical cooperation and possible financing for development and infrastructure. Venezuela’s presidential account called the meeting a positive step toward rebuilding working relations. The World Bank resumed dealings with the Venezuelan administration in April after years of suspended engagement under US pressure; its last loan to the country was in 2005.
Banga’s stated priorities include jobs, faster lending, and attracting private capital. Some analysts say that this emphasis raises a question for Caracas: whether financing for public services and reconstruction will come on terms that protect national control of strategic resources.
The encounters mark a reopening of doors that were closed while US sanctions and the campaign to install a parallel government cut Venezuela off from much of the international financial system.
Caracas has launched a restructuring of its foreign debt and that of state oil company PDVSA, whose combined total analysts estimate at US $150 billion to $200 billion. Venezuelan authorities attribute much of the economic disruption to Washington’s illegal financial blockade. Analysts expect creditors and lenders to demand economic information and a repayment framework. Access to Venezuelan assets and reconstruction funding remains entangled with decisions made outside the country.
UN meeting revisits an unresolved dispute
Later Monday, Rodríguez met UN Secretary-General Guterres at UN headquarters. Venezuela’s account highlighted sustainable development, social protection, and rebuilding after the earthquakes. The UN’s account, as reported by corporate media, also listed economic reforms, debt restructuring, dialogue, human rights, and a path toward what it called “a full democracy.” That formulation came from the UN’s account, not an agreed position with Caracas; critics of external interference regard it as interventionist.
The encounter followed a dispute between Caracas and the secretary-general. In May, Guterres suggested there had been significant complicity within Venezuela’s political system during the US imperialist invasion. Venezuela formally protested what it considered an unsupported claim incompatible with Guterres’ obligation to remain impartial.
After the attack, Guterres had expressed “concern” that the US military operation did not respect international law, although Caracas and other governments had sought a much more forceful response. Neither public account of Monday’s meeting said whether Rodríguez raised the subject of the bombing of Venezuela or the US abduction of President Maduro and First Lady Flores.
Before the meeting, Rodríguez signed the UN guest book with a message calling for peace and renewed multilateralism. Her appeal came as Washington asserted its right to use military force and disposses Venezuela and other countries of their resources—a direct challenge to the institution’s founding principles in the view of critics of US imperialism.
On Tuesday, Acting President Rodríguez attended the opening of the General Debate and heard Guterres’s address and a speech by disgraced US President Donald Trump. Trump defended the US raid on Venezuela and portrayed the oil arrangement with Caracas as a prize of the imperialist military operation. “To the victor belong the spoils,” he declared. He also threatened to use US military force again to secure Washington’s interests in the hemisphere.
The US ruler also intensified his attack on Cuba and warned that Iran could face annihilation. His remarks laid bare the unequal conditions under which Venezuela is negotiating access to funds and rebuilding assistance.
Rodríguez is expected to address the General Assembly on Thursday afternoon, September 24. Her speech will be closely watched for how she presents the reconstruction agenda, Venezuela’s sovereignty, and the fate of President Maduro and First Lady Flores, abducted by US forces on January 3.
Venezuela’s Delcy Rodríguez Arrives in New York for UN General Assembly Ahead of Trump Meeting
An encounter with Trump had also been announced for the UN gathering, but its outcome had not been confirmed at the time of this draft.
Special for Orinoco Tribune by staff
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