By Anthony Esposito and Marianna Parraga
NEW YORK, 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.
In her remarks, Rodriguez said the government had initiated talks with the opposition and would guarantee the participation of all political forces. She added that national institutions are 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.
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.
Rodriguez briefly met with US President Donald Trump on sidelines of the UN General Assembly on Tuesday and praised him for restarting dialogue with Venezuela.
Among other matters, Trump and Rodriguez discussed restructuring the South American nation’s billions of dollars in sovereign debt.
“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 it moves from “a stage of uncertainty and conflict toward a stage of full democracy.”
(Reporting by Anthony Esposito and Marianna Parraga; Editing by Kylie Madry and Clarence Fernandez)
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