He United States Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, He stated this Thursday that elections in Venezuela would be held “ideally” next year, although he warned that the country must complete a series of institutional, economic and security reforms before calling free elections.
In an interview with The New York Times at the White House, Rubio pointed out that Venezuela needs to renew its Supreme Court and its electoral councilin addition to advancing in the restructuring of its debt and reforming its security forces before holding elections, which it “ideally” placed in 2027.
The head of US diplomacy avoided guaranteeing that the elections would be held before the end of President Donald Trump’s term.
Rubio expressed his expectation that the talks sponsored by Washington between the Venezuelan government and a sector of the opposition will allow the highest court to be reformed in mid-December.
He also indicated that the negotiators They plan to meet next week to address the appointment of new members of the electoral council.
Rubio considered that the Venezuelan debt, estimated at more than 200 billion dollars, is an obstacle to recovering the economy and attracting investments.
“It is a huge problem that Venezuela faces and I believe that all sectors of society should support its solution,” he said.
Regarding military cooperation, Rubio added that the United States would like at some point “to have a military presence agreement, mainly from a legal point of view.”
Rubio’s statements come a week after the Trump Administration supported the roadmap agreed upon between the Venezuelan government and a sector of the opposition, which contemplates the renewal of the Supreme Court and the National Electoral Council.
Once these reforms are completed, Delcy Rodríguez should declare the permanent vacancy of the Presidency, which would open a period of six months to call elections.
Rubio does not contemplate leaving the Trump government
Rubio denied that he plans to leave office after the defeat of the Republicans in the midterm legislative elections in the United States, as he said in the interview.
“It has always been my intention” to work for President Donald Trump until the end of his term, he declared.
The rumors arose after The Independent newspaper published that The head of American diplomacy aspires to obtain the Republican presidential nomination and that he wants to disassociate himself from the Trump government after the tough Republican defeat in last Tuesday’s midterm elections, versions also published by the Bloomberg agency.
“This is totally false news, based on the word of anonymous sources, typical of a tabloid. The secretary has not spoken of leaving his position and will continue to proudly serve in President Trump’s Administration,” Dylan Johnson, head of Public Affairs at the State Department, told EFE.
According to polls, the main contenders for the Republican nomination are Vice President JD Vance, who on Wednesday blamed the Iran war for the defeat, and Rubio himself, although neither of them has officially announced their candidacy.
