The United States Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, issued a subtle warning on Monday to the Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, just one day after her return to Venezuela following nearly ten months in exile.
According to the report from Axios, without mentioning the Venezuelan opposition leader by name, Rubio was direct with the journalists: "You can't protest in the streets to achieve democracy."
The statements were made during a teleconference with media outlets, the transcript of which was published by the State Department this Tuesday, and they reflect the shift in the situation that the Trump administration has experienced since Machado's return and his positions on the transition process.
Machado returned to Venezuela on Sunday after traveling by private plane from Panama to Colombia and crossing the Venezuelan border by land, according to sources quoted by Reuters. She made a public appearance at the Santa Rosa church in Barquisimeto, Lara state, and traveled over 400 kilometers to Caracas, where she was greeted by thousands of supporters. "I am here. With you," she wrote on X.
The tension between Washington and Machado revolves around two issues: the electoral calendar and the oil agreement between the United States and the government of Delcy Rodríguez. Machado demands that the elections be held in 2027, while the Trump administration has not set a date and conditions it on three prior reforms.
The first is to renew the Supreme Court of Justice, filled with loyalists to the previous government, before the end of 2026. The second is to reform the National Electoral Council in early 2027. The third is to address Venezuela's sovereign debt, estimated at 300 billion dollars, a figure that exceeds the country's gross domestic product.
A senior official from the Department of State added in the call transcript that reforming security services could be a fourth requirement. «If you want a democratically elected government to succeed, you cannot allow it to inherit an economic apocalypse that brings it down», the official warned.
Machado has also questioned the oil agreement between Washington and Rodríguez's government due to a lack of transparency and democratic legitimacy, a criticism that has alerted officials in the Trump administration.
A source from the White House cited by Axios was explicit: "Venezuela is the main achievement of this administration's foreign policy, and if the progress we have made is undone and Machado is a factor of destabilization, no one wins."
Rubio made it clear that the process allows for no delays or deviations. "That is not going to happen. We have agreed timelines, and so far, everyone has adhered to them," he said, referring to Rodríguez's government.
The Secretary of State also positively assessed the actions of the Venezuelan government: the removal of Iranian and Cuban influence in the country, and the extradition of Alex Saab —a former ally of Maduro and cooperating witness against him— who pleaded guilty to money laundering in a federal court in Miami in September 2026. Rubio emphasized that he pays attention to Rodriguez's actions, not his words.
On her part, Rodríguez described Machado's return as a 'show' and stated, without naming her, that she should feel 'remorse' for having supported the 'military external aggression' against Venezuela —referring to Maduro's capture by U.S. forces on January 3, 2026.
Regarding the electoral horizon, the State Department clarified that to call for new elections, Rodríguez would need to declare the presidency vacant, which would activate a constitutional period of six months. In the most optimistic scenario, the elections could be convened for June 2027, although the Trump administration does not rule out that they could take place in 2028.
"If at the end of the day we have a new Supreme Court, a new Electoral Council, new elections, and a new system of government, that is what we want. And no matter what people say along the way, as long as that happens, this is a results-based process," Rubio concluded. "But if someone tries to derail that process, they are doing great harm to Venezuela."
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