Venezuela IMF Office to Open in Caracas in 2027, Fund Chief Says
Venezuela · Politics
Key Facts
- —What happened IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva said on 21 September 2026 that a Venezuela IMF office will open in Caracas next year.
- —Who she met Venezuela’s acting president, Delcy Rodríguez, who also saw the heads of the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank and the UN.
- —Why it matters Venezuela wants to restructure debts that most analysts put at US$150 billion to US$200 billion, Reuters reported.
- —The catch Brazil’s president, Lula, says Washington acts as if it governs Venezuela, and urged Rodríguez to call elections.
- —What the polls say A poll promoted by state media shows 91% back US dialogue; another finds 91% oppose her Trump meeting.
- —What comes next Rodríguez is due to meet Trump on Tuesday and to address the UN General Assembly on Wednesday.
The International Monetary Fund will open an office in Caracas next year, its chief said after meeting Venezuela’s acting president. Delcy Rodríguez is due to meet Donald Trump on Tuesday.
A Venezuela IMF office will open in Caracas next year, possibly in the first half of 2027, Kristalina Georgieva said on Monday. The fund’s chief spoke after meeting Delcy Rodríguez, Venezuela’s acting president, in New York on 21 September 2026.
The International Monetary Fund lends to governments in financial trouble and monitors their economies. Rodríguez is due to meet Donald Trump on Tuesday 22 September, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
What Georgieva promised
Georgieva told Bloomberg News the plan for a Venezuela IMF office would become a reality. It could open sometime in the first half of next year, she said.
Bloomberg had earlier reported that Venezuela had begun sharing more economic data with the fund.
Georgieva said the fund was now making sure it caught up quickly on Venezuela’s data and on key monetary and fiscal policies.
The IMF resumed dealings with Venezuela on 16 April 2026, after a break that began in 2019. IMF officials visited Caracas in late July, the first such trip in more than two decades, Bloomberg reported.
Georgieva wrote on social media that Monday’s talks focused on recovery and reconstruction after this year’s earthquakes, Reuters reported.
A day of meetings with lenders
Rodríguez arrived in New York early on Monday, on her first trip to the United States since taking office in January. John Barrett, the top US diplomat in Venezuela, met her at the airport, state television said.
She first met Ilan Goldfajn, president of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the main regional development lender. She then saw Georgieva and Ajay Banga, president of the World Bank, in separate meetings.
The talks took place at Venezuela’s mission to the United Nations, the Argentine news site Infobae reported. Calixto Ortega, her vice president for the economy, joined her with hydrocarbons minister Paula Henao and foreign minister Félix Plasencia.
Goldfajn told Reuters the IDB is drawing up a two-year plan for Venezuela, focused partly on electricity and social protection. Venezuela owes the bank about US$2.5 billion, according to Infobae.
Debt is the larger theme. “Her visit will have a big focus on debt restructuring, funds and payments,” one source told Reuters.
Venezuela said in May it would restructure the debts of the state and of the state oil company, PDVSA. Most analysts put those debts at US$150 billion to US$200 billion, Reuters reported.
Guterres and the path to democracy
Later on Monday, Rodríguez met UN Secretary-General António Guterres at UN headquarters. A UN statement said they discussed economic reforms, debt restructuring, dialogue initiatives and cooperation with Caracas.
That cooperation covers human rights, “as well as the path toward a full democracy,” the statement said, as quoted by Reuters.
Rodríguez told the state broadcaster VTV that Venezuela came seeking “peace, stability, human development, and global balance of all kinds,” AFP reported. She is due to address the General Assembly on Wednesday 23 September 2026.
Why the Trump meeting matters
Rodríguez was vice president to Nicolás Maduro, whom US forces seized in Caracas in January. Maduro is awaiting trial on drug-trafficking and other charges in a federal prison in New York.
Since then she has cooperated with Washington, including on access to Venezuela’s oil reserves, the largest in the world. Mike Waltz, the US ambassador to the UN, said the meeting would take place at a reception Trump hosts.
It would be the first meeting of the two countries’ leaders since Maduro briefly met Barack Obama in 2015, Infobae noted.
Lula’s warning
Brazil’s president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, criticised the relationship in an interview with CNN International in New York on Monday. The Spanish news agency EFE summarised his view: Washington conveys the idea that it now governs Venezuela.
“The country’s sovereignty is over,” Lula said, in EFE’s account. He added that this was not good for the United States, for Venezuela or for democracy.
He said Rodríguez should call a national election. “The way the United States treats Delcy, it looks like it is her boss,” he said, according to EFE.
Lula is seeking re-election in Brazil’s vote on 4 October 2026. He asked Washington not to interfere in that contest, EFE reported.
Two polls, two stories
Venezuelan state-aligned outlets on Monday and Tuesday recirculated a Hinterlaces poll showing 91% support for dialogue with Washington. Hinterlaces is a Caracas pollster whose results are regularly promoted by state media.
The survey was first published on 7 September. It found 91% rated the dialogue with the United States positively, 6% negatively and 3% gave no answer.
Hinterlaces interviewed 700 people, with a stated margin of error of 3.5 percentage points, the state-aligned site La Iguana reported.
Another pollster, Meganálisis, whose published commentary sharply questions Rodríguez’s legitimacy, found 91% disapproved of Trump meeting her. Only 4% approved, the Miami newspaper El Nuevo Herald reported.
Its online survey of 1,627 adults ran from 15 to 19 September. It also found 80% opposed the oil agreement that Washington and Caracas signed on 28 August.
The two firms asked different questions, by different methods, about two weeks apart.
What comes next
Rodríguez meets Trump on Tuesday and speaks at the General Assembly on Wednesday. Sources told Reuters the visit is expected to produce agreements on energy, debt and mining.
For the fund, the next marker is the Caracas office, which Georgieva said could open in the first half of 2027.
More: Venezuela coverage, every day from The Rio Times.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Delcy Rodríguez?
Delcy Rodríguez is Venezuela’s acting president. She was vice president under Nicolás Maduro and took over after US forces seized him in Caracas in January 2026. Maduro is awaiting trial in New York. Washington has since worked with her government on oil, sanctions and debt.
Why is the IMF opening an office in Caracas?
The IMF resumed dealings with Venezuela on 16 April 2026 after a break that began in 2019. Georgieva told Bloomberg News the Venezuela IMF office will open next year, possibly in the first half of 2027. She said the fund was catching up quickly on the country’s data and its monetary and fiscal policies.
What did Lula say about Venezuela?
In an interview with CNN International on 21 September 2026, Brazil’s president said the country’s sovereignty was over, according to EFE. The agency summarised his view as saying Washington conveys the idea that it governs Venezuela. He urged Rodríguez to call a national election.
Do Venezuelans back the rapprochement with Washington?
Polls disagree because they measure different things. Hinterlaces, whose results state media promote, found in early September that 91% viewed the dialogue positively. Meganálisis, critical of Rodríguez, found in mid-September that 91% disapproved of her meeting Trump.
Sources: Reuters on the New York meetings, debt talks and the UN statement, El Espectador on Georgieva’s remarks to Bloomberg News, Bloomberg on the IMF office, Infobae on the lenders and Guterres, AFP on the arrival and the General Assembly speech, EFE on Lula’s CNN interview, La Iguana on the Hinterlaces survey, Correo del Orinoco on the 7 September release, El Nuevo Herald on the Meganálisis poll, IMF on resuming dealings with Venezuela
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