The American president and the president in charge of Venezuela both referred to the prospect of an electoral process, which neither sees viable in the near future. While Trump assured that the country “is not prepared” to elect authorities “soon,” Delcy Rodríguez affirmed that the elections will take place “when appropriate,” but noted that the conditions are not yet in place. Their statements came on the day of the signing of a huge oil agreement between the two countries.

First modification: 09/03/2026 - 03:36

In Washington and Caracas, the speeches sound increasingly perfectly aligned. Donald Trump and Delcy Rodríguez were consulted almost at the same time about the prospect of presidential elections in the short term for Venezuela, and both ruled it out with the same argument: the country is not ready.

Vice president of Nicolás Maduro until the day he was extracted from a military installation by US elite forces on January 3, Rodríguez went on to head the Government, in what was presented as a provisional solution, while the “stabilization” process moved forward, in accordance with the three-phase plan for Venezuela outlined by the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio.

However, his relationship with the White House seems increasingly consolidated, with President Trump reiterating in several statements that Rodríguez is doing a “very good job” and remembering that “we are making a lot of money with oil,” in reference to the control that Washington maintains over the marketing of Venezuelan crude oil since the change of command.

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The tone was no different this September 2. Trump was asked by a journalist in the Oval Office about why his Administration refrained from demanding a specific date for elections in Venezuela.

“I think they are not ready yet,” responded the Republican magnate. "It's very new. We took away a dictatorship from them and we are getting along very well with the Government. Delcy is doing a very, very good job, she is very respected."

Then he added: "We want that (elections). They want it, Delcy wants it, but they are not ready. We have taken them out of a very powerful dictatorship, a ruthless dictatorship, where many people were in jail. Many of those people have now been released, they were political prisoners. But they are not going to be ready for that, but soon (they will be), we look forward to it."

Organizations defending those detained for political reasons, such as the Penal Forum, estimate that there are still at least 328 people in this condition behind bars, including 33 foreigners, some of them in the hands of the Bolivarian Intelligence Service (Sebin), the political police, attached to the vice presidency that Rodríguez led until January 3.

“I work without rest”

Almost at the same time, within the framework of the signing of a gigantic oil agreement between the two countries, President Rodríguez also answered questions from journalists about the renewal of executive power, and agreed with Trump that the conditions are not yet in place.

"I have worked tirelessly so that Venezuela is ready and prepared for when it is time to go to its electoral process, which there will be, have no doubt about that, there will be an electoral process, but under the conditions in which Venezuela is prepared," he responded, in an appearance before the media together with the Secretary of Energy of the United States, Chris Wright.

"In Venezuela there is a Constitution and there is a democratic system provided for in the Constitution, the second thing is that I do not set a date," Rodríguez added, avoiding ruling on a call to the polls in 2027.

The political dialogue between the National Assembly chaired by Delcy Rodríguez's brother, Jorge, and the president of the 2015 legislature (the last authority recognized by the Trump Government), Dinorah Figuera, has advanced a schedule for the renewal of the judiciary.

The agreements reached so far include provisions for care for those affected by the earthquakes of June 24, as well as a reform of the Organic Law of the Supreme Court of Justice, which is currently being discussed in Parliament.

However, it has not yet addressed the renewal of electoral power, to replace the questioned National Electoral Council that proclaimed Maduro the winner in the process of July 28, 2024, despite the fact that the opposition defended, with the support of 80% of the minutes, the victory of Edmundo González Urrutia.

Dead letter?

The truth is that the Venezuelan Constitution does not provide for the figure of the "interim president", but rather an interim ruler, whose authority is delimited by the time of the period in which he must assume functions.

Article 233 establishes that if the absolute absence of the president occurs “during the first four years of the constitutional period” (which in Venezuela is six years), new elections must be called within 30 days following the moment in which this absence is declared.

This was what happened after the death of Hugo Chávez, who died before being sworn in for the 2013-2019 period. Nicolás Maduro, who was his vice president at the time, held the position on an interim basis from December 2012 (when Chávez underwent surgery for the cancer that ultimately ended his life) until his death in March 2013.

Maduro called elections for the following month, and narrowly defeated opposition candidate Henrique Capriles Radonski.

In the case of Rodríguez, she assumed the Government when there was one week left before one year had passed since the moment Maduro was sworn in for the period 2025-2031, so that the first four years of the mandate had still elapsed.

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In accordance with article 234, which regulates the temporary absences of the president, the executive vice president can fulfill his duties for 90 days, extendable by a single additional extension of another 90.

Rodríguez exceeded that deadline at the beginning of last July, but Maduro's absolute absence has not been declared by the Supreme Court of Justice, as established in article 233.

Instead, the Constitutional Chamber of the highest judicial instance issued a ruling pointing out Maduro's “forced absence.” The figure does not exist in the Magna Carta, but it has allowed Rodríguez to avoid both the obligation to call elections in 30 days, and the end of his interim term in 180.

With EFE and local media

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