By Marianna Parraga, Vivian Sequera and Anthony Esposito
NEW YORK/CARACAS, Sept 23 (Reuters) - Venezuela's interim President Delcy Rodriguez told the UN General Assembly on Wednesday that the country would hold elections as part of a transition to "full democracy," but did not give a specific date for the vote.
"I want to make this very clear at this General Assembly: there will be elections in Venezuela," said Rodriguez, who came to power after American forces captured then-President Nicolas Maduro in a January raid.
Rodriguez said the government had initiated talks with the opposition and would guarantee the participation of all political forces. She added that national institutions were being prepared for the electoral process.
"Venezuela has initiated a process of democratic transformation for its rebirth, an orderly, institutional, and verifiable process, to build a country that is freer for all, more prosperous, and more reconciled with itself," said Rodriguez.
Venezuelan and US authorities have previously emphasized the need for an election, yet no date — not even a tentative one — has been set. The opposition views the selection of an autonomous Supreme Court and National Electoral Council as essential for calling such elections.
DOOR OPENING FOR THE OPPOSITION
Critics say Washington has sidelined the Venezuelan opposition, dropping demands for free elections in favor of oil and investment deals with the interim government.
Some US lawmakers have also called for elections, amid criticism that the Trump administration has failed to extract meaningful democratic concessions from Rodriguez's government.
"We have opened a political dialogue with opposition groups aimed at a process with equal conditions for all," said Rodriguez.
Still, Venezuela's most prominent opposition leader, Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado, has been noticeably absent from talks.
Machado, who left Venezuela late last year to receive her Nobel after living mostly in hiding since a contested 2024 presidential election, has been blocked from returning to Venezuela, her team and media said on Tuesday.
She has vowed to return to Venezuela to help with the response to June's devastating twin earthquakes, frustrating US officials who believe it is not the right time.
Machado has been blocked seven times from returning to Venezuela, "as planes have been forced to divert, airlines such as Copa Airlines have been threatened, maritime vessels sabotaged, and neighboring islands pressured to deny landings," Comando ConVzla, Machado's political committee, said on X.
MARCHING TOWARDS FULL DEMOCRACY
Rodriguez briefly met with US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly on Tuesday and praised him for restarting dialogue with Venezuela.
Trump and Rodriguez discussed restructuring the South American nation's billions of dollars in sovereign debt and Washington pressed for political change, said US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
"We made that point that in the end, for this project to be successful, it culminates in a free and fair election," Rubio said.
The United States has said Venezuela must first stabilize and recover economically before elections can take place.
"This is the time to build the nation that many people want to return to," Rodriguez said, but cautioned that economic recovery "will take time."
Rodriguez asked for the support of the international community as Venezuela moves from "a stage of uncertainty and conflict toward a stage of full democracy, recognized by its own people and the world."
(Reporting by Anthony Esposito and Marianna Parraga in New York and Vivian Sequera and Deisy Buitrago in Caracas; Editing by Kylie Madry and Clarence Fernandez)
