Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday met with Venezuela’s former National Assembly President Dinorah Figuera as the U.S. facilitates talks between the South American country’s last democratically elected legislature and the interim government.
In a statement after the talks, Mr. Rubio said he commended Ms. Figuera for her “courageous leadership” in working toward political reconciliation with Venezuela’s people in power.
He added that both sides agreed to continue talks that would lead to “lasting democratic change for” Venezuela.
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Ms. Figuera was elected president of Venezuela’s National Assembly in 2015 and maintained the position after the country’s Supreme Court ruled it would assume the government’s functions in 2017, effectively sidelining its power in favor of a Maduro-aligned legislature.
She has lived in exile in Spain since 2018.
“I want to leave it abundantly clear that this process that she is leading, along with her team, has 100% support, the strongest possible support from the highest levels of our government,” Mr. Rubio told reporters ahead of the meeting in Washington. ” And we encourage everyone who cares about the future of Venezuela to participate in this process in a way that’s positive.”
He did not answer a question from reporters about when he expects Venezuela to hold its first elections after the toppling of President Nicolas Maduro.
Mr. Maduro was arrested along with his wife in Caracas by U.S. forces in January as part of Operation Inherent Resolve. He has since been held in custody in New York, awaiting trial on torture charges.
His vice president, Delcy Rodriguez, has served as interim president of Venezuela since January and has proved a reliable partner to the Trump administration. She oversaw the signing of a landmark oil deal that gives Washington access to a majority share of more than 65 billion barrels of Venezuela’s oil reserves.
Mr. Rubio also previewed what he called “concrete results” from the first two rounds of talks between the 2015 National Assembly and the interim government, which took place in August and September.
In a statement, the State Department said both sides have made serious progress toward reforming the Supreme Court selection process to ensure no judges are tied to the Maduro government.
The State Department said it has also restored, or partially renewed, access to more than 70 previously blocked internet domains, including several independent news outlets.
At the next round of talks, slated for Wednesday, delegates are expected to finalize Supreme Court reform policy and discuss “providing individuals and political parties participation guarantees” for approved electoral processes.
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