After return to Venezuela, Machado backs 2027 polls under US transition plan
Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado has said the United States has proposed holding presidential elections in Venezuela in 2027 as part of a roadmap towards a democratic transition, in her first major public remarks since returning to the country after months in exile.
Speaking at a press conference in Caracas on Thursday, Machado said US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had outlined a series of steps leading to elections next year. She added that she would work to ensure every eligible Venezuelan could participate in the vote.
βSecretary of State Marco Rubio has laid out a sequence of steps for moving toward a democratic transition that makes clear that presidential elections will be held in 2027,β Machado said.
Machado also thanked US President Donald Trump and Rubio for their role in the removal of former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, describing relations between Washington and Caracas as based on mutual respect and shared interests.
Her return to Venezuela, however, could complicate her relationship with the Trump administration, which has backed acting President Delcy Rodriguez following Maduro's capture in a US raid in January.
Washington has supported negotiations between Rodriguez's government and opposition groups on electoral and judicial reforms ahead of the next elections. However, Machado's Vente Venezuela movement has not been included in those discussions.
The opposition leader avoided directly responding to Trump's earlier remarks that she lacked sufficient support to immediately lead Venezuela. She also declined to comment on his suggestion this week that Venezuela could become the 51st US state.
Machado said she welcomed Rodriguez's support for holding elections and stressed that a democratic transition would require guarantees for those involved. She called for transitional justice, a truth commission and reforms to the country's security forces.
Machado also called for greater transparency in Venezuela's oil, gas and mining sectors, saying future contracts must involve open bidding, transparent agreements and international arbitration.
She questioned the transparency of a contract involving North American Blue Energy Partners (NABEP), which has reached an agreement with the US government to export production from 17 Venezuelan oil fields.
Although Machado said she had not seen the contract, she argued that it did not appear to meet the transparency standards expected by Venezuelan society.
At the same time, she assured potential investors that legally signed agreements would be respected, although some could be renegotiated under improved terms.
She also called for an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to address Venezuela's massive debt burden and urgent humanitarian requirements.
Machado said the release of political prisoners was essential to restoring democracy in Venezuela.
According to human rights organisation Foro Penal, 322 political prisoners remain incarcerated in the country, with more than half yet to be convicted. Around 11,000 other people are reportedly facing restrictions, including house arrest.
Rodriguez said earlier on Thursday that more than 9,000 people had been released or had legal restrictions lifted under a limited amnesty law.
Machado also visited her lawyer, Perkins Rocha, on Monday. Rocha was arrested following the 2024 elections and spent 18 months in Caracas' Helicoide prison, where former inmates and rights advocates have alleged torture. He remains under house arrest after his amnesty request was rejected.
Machado, 59, returned to Venezuela on Sunday after several failed attempts to come back this year. She had lived in hiding for more than a year before leaving the country, as several of her close associates were detained.
She was barred from contesting the 2024 presidential election, but her chosen proxy was declared the winner by the opposition based on its own vote tallies. Venezuela's institutions, however, backed Maduro.- Ends
