U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met Venezuelan Foreign Minister Oliver Blanco on Monday to discuss political changes tied to future elections, but the State Department's account of the meeting named no election date.
The department said the two reviewed the status of Venezuela-led reconciliation negotiations and considered institutional changes intended to support future elections. Its statement did not give a voting timetable.
President Donald Trump's administration supports talks between the interim government led by Delcy Rodriguez and opposition groups on changes to Venezuela's electoral council and top court. Reuters reported that the talks exclude Vente Venezuela, the movement led by opposition leader Maria Corina Machado.
Reuters also reported Machado said last week that Washington had suggested Venezuela hold a presidential election next year. Rubio said last week the country's election system had been built to produce rigged results and should be replaced before a valid vote, Reuters reported.
Blanco also met U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Monday, the U.S. Department of the Treasury said. The department said Bessent discussed increasing energy production and attracting investment to Venezuela.
Rodriguez, Maduro's former vice president, became interim president after Trump ordered a deadly U.S. military raid in early January that captured ousted leader Nicolas Maduro and his wife. Reuters reported that they were taken to New York to face trial. Rodriguez began governing the country under U.S. oversight.
The United Nations human rights office said in January that the U.S. intervention violated international law. Reuters reported that human rights advocates have criticized the Trump administration's approach to Venezuela's oil sector as imperialist.
Machado returned to Venezuela Oct. 25 as Washington pressed the interim authorities for electoral changes, a development EconoTimes covered in its report on her return amid reform pressure. The department's account of Monday's talks gave no date for a vote.
