MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Rubio says talks on Venezuela's democratic transition will begin in early August

“I believe the first official conversations will begin the first week of August,” Rubio said at a news conference at Andrews Air Force Base

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Monday that talks to begin a democratic transition in Venezuela will start in early August. Rubio, who leads Washington's relationship with Caracas, said a group representing the National Assembly elected in 2015 —the last one the United States recognizes as legitimate— met with the interim government and agreed to establish a forum for reconciliation talks and to begin the transition process.

“I believe the first official conversations will begin the first week of August,” Rubio said at a news conference at Andrews Air Force Base, before traveling to the Philippines for the ASEAN summit. The announcement coincides with a State Department statement last week backing a joint agenda set to begin on August 1, aimed at stability, democracy and national recovery, with the interim government's endorsement.

The United States has maintained a close relationship with Caracas since January 3, when it launched a military operation that captured Nicolás Maduro and flew him to New York to face criminal charges. Delcy Rodríguez, until then vice president, took over as interim president. Since then, Rubio has laid out a three-phase plan: stabilization, economic recovery and transition.

The process is advancing amid divisions within the opposition. The agenda does not include María Corina Machado, whose supporters have pressed for her role after arguing she won the 2024 election. Instead, representation falls to Dinorah Figuera, who holds —in a post disputed with Jorge Rodríguez— the presidency of the 2015 Assembly and returned to Caracas last month after years in exile. Figuera met with the U.S. chargé d'affaires and with Jorge Rodríguez, president of the Assembly that exercises effective control in the country and brother of the interim president, to agree on a technical and political working group.

The negotiations come during reconstruction work following the late-June earthquakes, which struck the north of the country. According to still-provisional official figures, the quakes left more than 5,200 dead and tens of thousands injured in La Guaira and Caracas, with hundreds of buildings and numerous public facilities collapsed.

On aid, Rubio said the United States had already contributed more than $180 million of the $300 million pledged. “We've already surpassed $180 million and we're looking for more; we'll do more,” he said, adding that Washington is working to help Venezuela access international financing for reconstruction, whose total cost is still being calculated.