More than three months after U.S. Forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, interim President Delcy Rodriguez has not held the elections promised in February, prompting opposition leader Maria Corina Machado to renew her demand for a vote.
Rodriguez, who assumed power on January 5 under an emergency injunction following Maduro’s detention, faces a constitutional deadline: vice presidents may serve as acting president for up to 90 days, renewable once by the legislature, after which a power vacancy triggers elections within 30 days. That six-month window closed in early July, yet no vote has been scheduled.
On Monday, Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello rejected Machado’s formal request for presidential elections, deepening the political standoff. Machado, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2025, has called for a new, nonpartisan National Electoral Council and an updated voter registry, noting that 40 percent of voting-age Venezuelans remain unregistered.
While Rodriguez has distanced herself from Maduro’s anti-imperialist rhetoric and sought closer ties with the United States — including a government reshuffle that sidelined figures like Alex Saab and Alfredo Ruiz — her administration continues to block electoral concessions. The Trump administration lifted sanctions on Venezuela on April 1, further aligning U.S. Policy with Rodriguez’s interim government.
Internationally, Machado is set to meet French President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace on April 14, a meeting announced by her official communications team. The visit precedes a planned trip to Madrid, where Venezuela’s diaspora is concentrated.
Domestically, Rodriguez’s consolidation of power includes military outreach: on January 16, she met in Caracas with CIA Director John Ratcliffe and military counterintelligence chief Gustavo Gonzalez Lopez, a session Washington described as historic.
Machado’s refusal to regret her 2025 decision to award her Nobel Prize medal to Donald Trump — a gesture she made during a televised interview — has drawn scrutiny, though she maintains it was a symbolic act of engagement with U.S. Leadership.
Protests have persisted in Caracas and other cities, driven not only by electoral demands but also by widespread anger over low wages and inflation, which remain unaddressed under the interim administration.
The absence of elections, despite constitutional triggers being passed, raises questions about the durability of Rodriguez’s claim to legitimacy, particularly as her government pursues economic liberalization while resisting democratic openings.
Why hasn’t Rodriguez held elections despite the constitutional deadline?
Sources do not specify her reasons, but note she has consolidated power through U.S. Engagement, military outreach, and purges of Maduro-era figures, suggesting a strategic delay to prolong interim rule.
What is Machado’s stance on her Nobel Prize gesture toward Trump?
She has stated publicly that she does not regret giving her Nobel Prize medal to Donald Trump, calling it a symbolic engagement rather than an endorsement.