Secretary of State Marco Rubio says Venezuela’s return to democracy will take months, not an overnight handoff. His warning places a major reality check on hopes for quick elections after the United States removed Nicolás Maduro from power.
In an interview with Newsweek, Rubio said progress was moving in the right direction but would require “persistence and a little bit of patience.” He said the process should take months and weeks rather than years, while cautioning against expectations of instant results.
Rubio Says Venezuela Needs More Than A Ballot Box
According to the Denver Gazette, Rubio said fair elections would require freedom of the press, participation by multiple parties, national reconciliation and an electoral commission capable of accurately counting votes. He argued that a democratic transition must bring Venezuelan society together rather than simply rush toward a vote.
The comments come roughly seven months after U.S. forces captured Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, and Washington established authority over Venezuela. The Trump administration has described the path forward as a three-phase process involving stabilization, recovery and an eventual return to full independence.
Opposition Leaders Want A Faster Election Timeline
Rubio’s timeline is slower than the one promoted by María Corina Machado, Venezuela’s most prominent opposition leader. The Washington Examiner reported that Machado believes a transparent process using manual voting could be completed in nine to 10 months, potentially allowing elections by November.
Machado won Venezuela’s October 2023 opposition primary but was barred from running in the 2024 presidential election. She endorsed Edmundo González, while Maduro declared himself the winner of a contest that the United States and much of the international community considered illegitimate.
Venezuela’s New Talks Face Old Distrust
The immediate test for Rubio’s slower approach is a new round of negotiations between Venezuela’s interim government and opposition representatives. The Associated Press reported that the talks are focused on rebuilding democratic institutions, but also noted that previous dialogue efforts repeatedly collapsed after failing to produce meaningful political change.
The negotiations include figures connected to the interim government and former lawmakers from Venezuela’s 2015 National Assembly, which Washington recognizes as the country’s last freely elected legislature. The arrangement could create a channel for institutional reforms, though Machado’s absence remains a potential problem for any agreement seeking broad opposition support.
The United States has not announced a specific election date. For now, Rubio is offering Venezuelans a timetable measured in months and a warning that rebuilding a political system after nearly three decades of authoritarian rule will not happen with the flip of a switch.
.jpg){kind=link}