Caracas (AFP) – Opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado supported this Thursday the United States proposal to declare the presidency in Venezuela vacant and call elections next year, after the fall of Nicolás Maduro in a US operation in January.

First modification: 05/11/2026 - 20:11

After ten months in exile, Machado returned to his country in October to lead a democratic transition agenda and pressure for elections to be held in 2027.

In a statement addressed to the Ibero-American Summit in Madrid, the leader supported the roadmap set by the United States Department of State, which contemplates the renewal of the highest Venezuelan court before the end of 2026, and immediately after, the creation of a new National Electoral Council.

This plan foresees that interim president Delcy Rodríguez declares the presidency vacant and calls for elections in six months.

"Given the prolonged de facto situation that our country is going through, we endorse this plan as a reasonable way to advance towards the full recovery of the constitutional order in Venezuela," Machado said in his statement.

Rodríguez, who has governed on an interim basis under pressure from Washington since Maduro's capture, has said that the elections will be governed according to the constitutional mandate with a renewed electoral referee, but did not mention a date.

The Venezuelan Foreign Minister, Oliver Blanco, was present at the Summit on behalf of Rodríguez.

Machado also held a video conference with the president of the Spanish Popular Party, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, who supported the early holding of elections in Venezuela.

Maduro, in power in Venezuela from 2013 until his overthrow on January 3, remains held in a New York prison awaiting trial on several charges, including "narcoterrorism."

© 2026 AFP

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