Overview
- Marco Rubio urged on Wednesday that Venezuela form a new, independent electoral body before any credible election can be called and declined to set a date for a vote.
- Rubio said a new commission must guarantee accurate vote counts, allow a free press to operate without restrictions, and give political parties time to register and reorganize.
- U.S. officials say they are working privately with Venezuela’s interim authorities on multiple cooperative steps while Washington has lifted targeted sanctions and endorsed economic reforms opening oil and mining to foreign investment.
- Domestic tensions continue: the high-profile PDVSA corruption trial of former official Tareck El Aissami was deferred after defendants rejected a virtual hearing and several declared hunger strikes, and there have been protests over wages and pensions in Caracas.
- Opposition figures such as María Corina Machado and Edmundo González Urrutia are pushing for a negotiated transition and preparing to participate in future elections, a debate shaped by Maduro’s January capture and long-standing concerns about the impartiality of the current electoral council.