Venezuela's Rodríguez promises elections in UNGA debut but gives no date

Venezuela’s acting president Delcy Rodríguez told the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday that “elections will be held in Venezuela” as part of a transition to “full democracy”, but did not give a specific date for the vote.

“I wish to state this very clearly before this General Assembly: Elections will be held in Venezuela,” she said, adding her government had started a “political dialogue with opposition sectors” to secure a “process based on equal conditions for all”.

Rodríguez said Venezuelans would determine the best time to hold elections and assured the UN that institutions “will be prepared to guarantee an inclusive and transparent process”.

Rodríguez took over as interim president after a surprise US military raid in January abducted Nicolás Maduro and brought him to the United States to face drug trafficking charges. Her appearance marked the first trip to the US by a Venezuelan head of state since Maduro attended UNGA in 2018; he is currently being held a few miles from UN headquarters awaiting trial.

She met briefly with US President Donald Trump on the sidelines on Tuesday, where they discussed restructuring billions of dollars in Venezuelan sovereign debt, Al Jazeera reported.

Critics say Washington has sidelined the Venezuelan opposition, dropping demands for free elections in favour of oil and investment deals with the interim government. “Today, Venezuela is being reborn,” Rodríguez told the assembly.

Sources

• Al Jazeera, “Venezuela’s Delcy Rodriguez promises elections at UN, gives no date”, 24 Sept 2026: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/9/24/venezuelas-delcy-rodriguez-promises-elections-at-un-gives-no-date