The Secretary of State Marco Rubio reiterated this Monday that Washington demands a full democratic transition and the holding of free and fair elections in Venezuela, and asserted that the Trump administration is working "very hard" to achieve this.
The statements were made in an interview with Sean Hannity on Fox News, where he also addressed the situation in Cuba and insisted that the only way out for the regime is a transition to democracy.
About Venezuela, Rubio was direct: “In Venezuela, two things are happening. One, its economy needs to continue recovering because the Venezuelan people have suffered immensely. We are talking about 25 to 30 years of corruption and looting.”
«But the other thing that must happen, and in which we are very focused, is a democratic transition. They need to hold free and fair elections in that country. We are working very hard with the National Assembly of 2015 to set up the necessary conditions to hold free and fair elections as soon as possible,» he added.
The words of the chief of American diplomacy are framed within the three-phase plan that he himself presented in January 2026 following the capture of Nicolás Maduro: stabilization, economic recovery, and political transition.
In July, Rubio confirmed the formal start of that third phase with the establishment of a forum between the 2015 National Assembly and the Venezuelan government led by Delcy Rodríguez.
The process advanced with concrete steps. On August 6, Dinorah Figuera, president of the National Assembly of 2015, returned to Venezuela from Spain to lead the opposition delegation in dialogue with chavismo.
A week later, both parties reached their first major agreement. The conditions that Washington demands before calling elections include freedom of the press, reconstruction of political parties, an independent National Electoral Council, and guarantees for the opposition.
On September 24, President Trump spoke directly with Delcy Rodríguez about the necessity of holding elections in Venezuela, and the next day thousands of Venezuelans gathered in Caracas to demand elections. On September 23, Rubio had already revealed a meeting with Rodríguez in which he stated that the U.S. aspires to a "lasting republic" in Venezuela.
In the midst of this process, the most emblematic figure of the opposition, María Corina Machado, still cannot return to the country.
The opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate left Venezuela in December 2025 to travel to Norway, and since then, the Chavista regime has blocked her return. On September 22, she made three failed attempts to enter the country from Panama in less than 24 hours, according to her team.
The Command with Venezuela called for caravans on September 27 to demand the safe return of Machado and the holding of presidential elections in 2027. The following day, its communications chief, Claudia Macero, successfully returned to Venezuela, which fueled expectations about a possible imminent return of Machado.
Rubio did not provide a specific date for the elections, but his message was clear: «Venezuela will truly be on the upward path it deserves» once free and fair elections are held.
Filed under: