# Venezuela's Leader Courts the World, Dodges Elections > Delcy Rodríguez makes her U.N. debut as acting president while sidestepping demands for democratic votes. - Title: Venezuela's Leader Courts the World, Dodges Elections - Summary: Delcy Rodríguez makes her U.N. debut as acting president while sidestepping demands for democratic votes. Venezuela's new acting leader is winning… - Keywords: venezuela, delcy rodríguez, nicolás maduro, united nations general assembly, elections, trump administration, maría corina machado, latin america, democracy, u.n. debut, Venezuela's, Leader - Source: Foreign Policy — https://foreignpolicy.com/2026/09/25/venezuela-unga-delcy-rodriguez-maduro-trump-elections - Author: Catherine Osborn - Read time: 3 min - Topics: venezuela, delcy rodríguez, nicolás maduro, united nations general assembly, elections, trump administration, maría corina machado, latin america, democracy, u.n. debut ## Venezuela returns to the U.N. Acting President Delcy Rodríguez became the first Venezuelan leader to address the U.N. General Assembly in person in eight years, marking a reentry into the international community. ## Maduro's dramatic fall Former President Nicolás Maduro, who avoided the U.N. due to a 2020 U.S. drug trafficking indictment, was captured by U.S. military in January and is now held in a federal prison in Brooklyn. ## Trump backs oil rebuilding The Trump administration is working with Rodríguez to rebuild Venezuela's oil industry, signaling a shift in U.S. policy toward the new leadership. ## Venezuelans want elections Polls show Venezuelans overwhelmingly want free elections to choose their own leader, but both Rodríguez and the U.S. have declined to provide a timeline. ## Rodríguez vows elections, no date At the U.N. podium, Rodríguez pledged elections would occur at an unspecified "right moment," offering no concrete timeline for when Venezuelans could vote. ## Trump meets Rodríguez quietly During her New York visit, Rodríguez met with President Trump, who made no public mention of elections or democratization. ## Regional leaders normalize her rule Latin American presidents are increasingly willing to accept Rodríguez's leadership, with Paraguay's Santiago Peña visiting Caracas and Chile's José Antonio Kast meeting with her in New York. ## Machado blocked from returning Opposition leader María Corina Machado, who won the Nobel Peace Prize last December, was blocked from boarding flights to Venezuela three times this week alone. ## Machado's passport problem The Venezuelan government has refused to renew Machado's passport, forcing her to depend on temporary travel documents from other countries like Panama. ## Regional leaders shrug at democracy Panama's President José Raúl Mulino dismissed questions about Machado's return, saying it was "a problem for Venezuelans, not for me," reflecting regional indifference to Venezuelan democratization. > That's a problem for Venezuelans, not for me. ## Lula stands alone for democracy Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was the only major voice suggesting a different approach, saying Venezuelans deserve to define their own destiny. > the Venezuelan people deserve to define their own destiny. ## Bachelet exits U.N. race Former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet became the first candidate to withdraw from the U.N. secretary-general election, citing concerns about multilateralism and climate action. ## Latin America leads U.N. race The two top secretary-general candidates in recent straw polls are both from Latin America: former Costa Rican Vice President Rebeca Grynspan and former Guyanese Foreign Minister Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett. ## Guyana's oil boom accelerates Oil-rich Guyana announced 33.3 percent GDP expansion for the first half of 2026, driven by high global oil prices from the Iran war, making it a high-income country in less than a decade. ## Guyana launches development bank President Irfaan Ali announced a new development bank with 100 million dollars in capital to provide small, no-interest loans to entrepreneurs across the country, part of efforts to distribute oil wealth. ## Data gap clouds development Guyana's government does not regularly publish poverty data, making it unclear whether the Inter-American Development Bank's 50 percent poverty estimate or local analysts' 18 to 20 percent figure is accurate. ## New cat species discovered Bolivian biologist Paola Nogales-Ascarrunz identified the first new wild cat species in over a century, the Leopardus tilcayo, which is smaller than a housecat and native to the Bolivian Andes. ## Tigrino becomes conservation ambassador The newly discovered tilcayo cat, named Tigrino, lives in a wildlife sanctuary near La Paz and has become a celebrity ambassador for protecting Bolivia's endangered tropical forests. ## Key takeaway Venezuela's new acting leader is winning international acceptance without committing to elections that polls show Venezuelans overwhelmingly want.