Rubio meets Venezuelan counterpart as US presses for progress on election preparations

WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with his Venezuelan counterpart in Washington on Monday as the Trump administration has stepped up efforts to press the interim government and opposition groups to make quick progress on preparations for elections that could be held next year.

Rubio held talks with Foreign Minister Oliver Blanco at the State Department just two weeks after Venezuelan authorities and opposition figures agreed on a blueprint to reform the country’s electoral process to allow for free and fair elections to take place at some point in 2027. Neither man spoke as they posed for photographs ahead of their meeting.

In his last significant comments about Venezuela, Rubio said last week that the Trump administration, which ousted then-President Nicolás Maduro in a January military operation, would be watching events closely and urging all sides to comply with the new process. He said the goal is to help put in place a sustainable election architecture that will give all parties confidence in the vote.

Monday’s meeting was one of the highest-level encounters between a senior Trump administration official and a counterpart from acting President Delcy Rodríguez’s government.

Rodríguez met with Trump on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in September, while Energy Secretary Chris Wright met Rodríguez and senior Venezuelan officials in Caracas in August to seal a massive oil deal.

Rodríguez took over in Venezuela after a surprise U.S. military raid in January that captured Maduro and brought him to the United States to face drug trafficking charges, which he denies.

Rubio has met previously with the speakers of the current and former Venezuelan parliament as well as opposition leader María Corina Machado, who returned to the country last month.