Venezuela’s Rodríguez vows to hold election as Machado asks when

Venezuela’s opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who returned to Venezuela after nearly a year away, addresses the press in Caracas on Thursday | REUTERS

Oct 30, 2026

Venezuela’s acting president pledged to hold elections once the agency that oversees voting is overhauled, offering her most specific vision yet for restoring democracy even as the nation’s leading opposition figure pressed her to commit to a date next year.

The back-and-forth between the interim head of state Delcy Rodriguez and her challenger Maria Corina Machado in consecutive events was the closest thing to a direct confrontation the two have had since Machado returned from exile on Oct. 25. Both are expected to vie for the presidency in a future election.

“There will be elections, all those mandated by our constitution, organized by a renewed electoral authority and with the world as witness,” Rodriguez said in a rare televised address, shortly before Machado was due to make her first public remarks since her return.

In a time of both misinformation and too much information,
quality journalism is more crucial than ever.
By subscribing, you can help us get the story right.

SUBSCRIBE NOW