Venezuela's Delcy Rodríguez Tells UN Elections Will Be Held

Venezuela's acting president, Delcy Rodríguez, used her first address to the United Nations General Assembly to commit her government to holding elections, saying the country has entered a process of democratic transformation.

"Elections will be held in Venezuela," Rodríguez told the assembly, adding that her administration has opened a political dialogue with sections of the opposition aimed at creating a process "based on equal conditions for all." She said the Venezuelan people would decide the right moment for the vote, and that state institutions would be ready to guarantee an inclusive and transparent process when that time comes.

Rodríguez framed democracy as a question of the quality of competition rather than the mere holding of ballots, describing an election as something that should resolve differences rather than generate irreconcilable conflict.

Her speech also marked a step in Venezuela's return to global diplomacy. She noted that the last meeting between the presidents of Venezuela and the United States had been in 2009, and thanked President Donald Trump for his willingness to resume diplomatic relations and cooperation. She pointed to energy security as a shared priority and described a recent bilateral agreement between the two countries as significant for the hemisphere's economic and energy balance.

Rodríguez took office after a surprise U.S. military raid in January captured her predecessor, Nicolás Maduro, and brought him to the United States to face drug trafficking charges. He is being held near UN headquarters while awaiting trial. Her trip is the first by a Venezuelan head of state to the United States since 2018, when Maduro attended the General Assembly in New York.

She said Venezuela was recovering from setbacks suffered this year, including earthquakes on June 24 that struck north-central Venezuela with magnitudes of 7.2 and 7.5, killing more than 6,500 people and leaving many missing.

Rodríguez also spoke of a crisis of political coexistence that she said had disrupted national life and the country's engagement with the world, and outlined plans for institutional review, legal certainty for investors and citizens, and reform of the justice system.

Her appearance followed a pull-aside meeting with Trump on Tuesday evening at a reception in New York, their first in-person encounter since the operation that removed Maduro and effectively placed her in charge. Rodríguez said on X that they discussed strengthening bilateral ties and cooperation in energy, mining, security and other areas of mutual interest. The meeting came after the two countries announced an agreement last month giving the United States a stake in Venezuela's oil reserves, a deal she has described as a step toward economic recovery and modernisation of the oil industry.