Machado says Venezuelan elections could happen this year, Politico reports
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Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado said she believed elections could be held in Venezuela later in 2026.
PHOTO: REUTERS
WASHINGTON – Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado said she believed elections could be held in her country later in 2026, speaking to Politico in an interview released on Feb 5.
“We believe that a real transferring process with manual voting… could be done in nine to 10 months,” Ms Machado said. “But, well, that depends when you start.”
Ms Machado, whose party said it won 70 per cent of the vote in Venezuela’s 2024 election, met US President Donald Trump and spoke with his top diplomat and US lawmakers in January, following the US capture of the country’s longtime leader Nicolas Maduro.
“We have a legitimate leadership with huge popular support, and our armed forces are also supportive of a transition to democracy,” she told Politico.
Mr Trump in January said he was considering getting Ms Machado “involved some way” even as he has backed Venezuela’s interim President Delcy Rodriguez
Ms Machado told Politico that she had not yet spoken to Mr Trump about the election process.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio told US lawmakers at a Jan 28 hearing that Venezuela’s new leaders were moving toward closer ties with Washington before meeting with Ms Machado later that day.
US intelligence reports have questioned whether Ms Rodriguez is fully on board with the strategy for her country and if she intends to formally cut ties with US adversaries, Reuters reported in January. REUTERS
