On Sunday, Venezuelan Acting President Delcy Rodríguez arrived in Rome, Italy, to participate in the 2026 World Food Forum, an event that will be held through October 16.
Leading the Venezuelan delegation, the acting president joins the meeting hosted at the headquarters of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Details of her extended agenda have not been disclosed by Venezuelan officials.
The forum is a high-level event focused on food security, international cooperation, and strengthening multilateral ties with specialized agencies. Rodríguez’s official intervention is scheduled for Monday, October 12.
According to the Venezuelan Presidential Press, the acting president was received by director Máximo Torero, FAO chief economist and coordinator of the Forum; Venezuela’s ambassador to the Italian Republic, María Elena Uzzo; and the ambassador and permanent representative of Venezuela to the FAO, Marilyn Di Luca.
Communication Minister Miguel Pérez Pirela, Foreign Affairs Minister Félix Plasencia, and Food Minister Carlos Leal Tellería, Presidential Office Minister Juan Escalona, First Foreign Affairs Deputy Minister Oliver Blanco, and Foreign Affairs Minister for Multilateral Organizations Joaquín Pérez are also part of Venezuela’s delegation.
After arriving in Italy, Rodríguez said she would emphasize the importance of food as a fundamental human right during her participation in the FAO World Food Forum.
“We are here participating in the World Food Forum, highlighting the importance that Venezuela gives to food as a fundamental human right. We stress the relevance of agro-productive processes that must respect nature in all countries of the world and, above all, highlight what this process has been in Venezuela. The country once reached its zero-hunger goal and then suffered the sanctions. Today, we are showing important progress in the objective of returning to zero hunger in Venezuela,” Rodríguez said.
Toward a more efficient and sustainable food system
The World Food Forum, under the slogan “Innovate today. Nourish tomorrow,” will bring together heads of state, young people, producers, academic institutions, indigenous peoples, development partners, and the private sector. Its activities will address opportunities to strengthen production, generate rural employment, add value, and expand market access through investment, science, innovation, and partnerships.
At the FAO’s Hand-in-Hand Initiative Investment Forum, nine countries will present their national plans, along with regional proposals for the Amazon and arid areas of the Central American Integration System (SICA).
The Forum will also include spaces for youth leadership and entrepreneurship, scientific exchange, academic cooperation, and dialogue on water and the food systems of indigenous peoples.
The FAO World Forum offers member states and stakeholders an opportunity to identify concrete measures to make food systems more inclusive, resilient, and environmentally sustainable, with special emphasis on the rights of the most vulnerable populations.
Presidential aircrafts
Acting President Delcy Rodríguez’s recent international travel has drawn attention to the use of foreign-registered private aircraft. For her September visit to New York, reports identified a US-registered Gulfstream G500, N818CA, operated by Colombia’s Helistar S.A.S.
The company has a documented contractual relationship with the US Department of State. In April 2021, it received a contract to provide helicopter services supporting Washington’s counternarcotics operations in Colombia, including transporting personnel and equipment for drug eradication and rural and base security programs. This establishes a significant commercial connection to Washington, although it does not establish that the United States arranged or financed Rodríguez’s flight.
The limited disclosure surrounding these flights also warrants scrutiny. Photographs from Rodríguez’s September visit to Suriname appear to identify a different aircraft—a Bombardier Global 6000 bearing the San Marino registration T7-102X, linked by flight internet trackers as a recently acquired Venezuelan presidential jet.
By contrast, the photographs reviewed from her October 11 arrival in Rome show only the aircraft’s forward section, leaving its registration and identifying markings outside the frame. These restricted views make independent identification difficult and raise questions about whether the discretion is deliberate. However, the photographs alone cannot establish an intentional effort to conceal the aircraft’s identity.
Washington’s unilateral coercive measures against Venezuelan aviation provide essential context. In January 2020, the US Treasury identified 15 PDVSA aircraft as blocked property, followed in February by Conviasa and its fleet, including the presidential Airbus A340 registered YV1004. These measures targeted substantial state aviation resources used for official travel, while subsequent US seizures of Venezuelan-used aircraft demonstrated the risks surrounding international operations. This pressure offers a plausible explanation for reliance on foreign-registered jets, but no official explanation linking those restrictions to Rodríguez’s recent aircraft choices was found.
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