Venezuela‘s interim president promises election after Maduro ousted

Venezuela’s interim president pledges elections after Maduro is removed

Venezuela’s interim president, Delcy Rodríguez, said elections will be held as part of a transition to “full democracy,” though she gave no date.

Rodríguez was sworn in only days after her predecessor, Nicolás Maduro, was seized by US forces and flown to New York to face drug-trafficking charges.

Despite her earlier close relationship with Maduro, she has the support of the Trump administration.

Venezuela’s opposition has criticized her for failing to even suggest a possible election date.

Addressing the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, Rodríguez said that “there will be elections in Venezuela” and that the Venezuelan people would decide “the right moment” to hold them.

The interim president, who had been a close ally of Maduro and served as his vice-president until his removal by the US, did not refer to the imprisoned former leader at all.

Less than nine months after the US raid on Caracas, during which the presidential couple was captured and about 100 people were killed, she instead thanked US President Donald Trump “for his willingness to take the path of diplomatic relations and cooperation”.

She added that her government and the Trump administration were “working seriously to resolve existing differences through dialogue,” saying the two countries were opening “the way for energy relations, the promotion of security, the common fight against transnational crime and economic cooperation for the benefit of both peoples and our continent”.

Unlike Rodríguez, President Trump made repeated references to Maduro in his speech to the assembly, describing him as an “outlaw dictator, a real criminal”.

Trump also praised the signing of what he called “the largest oil deal in history covering 65bn barrels of oil” that the US has reached with Rodríguez’s interim government.

“To the victor belong the spoils,” he said, adding that “if necessary, we will use our unmatched military might to secure the vital national interest of the United States”.

Although he did not mention elections in his UN speech, Trump told the LA Times earlier this month that he did not think Venezuela was ready yet.

The two leaders also met briefly on Tuesday on the sidelines.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who was present at the meeting, said the two presidents had discussed elections. However, he seemed to urge Venezuelan opposition politicians to be patient.

Rubio said there would first need to be a “political transition process” to rebuild the institutions required for free and fair elections.

“What we don’t want to see (…) would be that someone is elected, and they inherit a complete catastrophe, economic and social,” he said.

Rubio also cited ongoing negotiations between Venezuela’s interim government and some opposition members as evidence of progress.

Critics of the talks have pointed out, however, that Venezuela’s most prominent opposition leader, María Corina Machado, is not included.

Machado, who left Venezuela in December to receive the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, has been unable to return to the country since.

One of her advisers said she had made three attempts to travel back to her home country this week, but all three were blocked.

Machado remains barred from running for office — a ban imposed under the Maduro government — and Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello has previously said that if she returns, the authorities would have “a surprise” waiting for her.