Machado believes Venezuela can hold elections soon

“We believe that a real transition process with manual voting… the entire process could be completed in nine or ten months. But, well, that depends on when it starts”, declared Machado, recognized with the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize and who is currently in the USA.

Since the capture of Nicolás Maduro in the American attack against Venezuela, on January 3, Donald Trump’s administration has established relations with the interim regime of Chavista Delcy Rodríguez, and claims that the country is under its tutelage.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio declared in January before the Senate that the ultimate goal is to achieve a “democratic” Venezuela through “free and fair elections”, but did not detail deadlines for this transition which, in his opinion, will take some time.

Machado, who met with Trump in January and presented him with his Nobel medal, explained to Politico who did not discuss an electoral calendar with the American president, but demonstrated optimism regarding the holding of the election.

“We have a democratic culture, a solid democratic culture. We have an organized society. We have a legitimate leadership with great popular support, and our armed forces also support the transition to democracy,” he said.

The last presidential elections were those of July 28, 2024, in which Maduro was re-elected according to the Venezuelan authorities, despite accusations of fraud from the opposition and several countries, which recognized the victory of the candidate Edmundo González Urrutia, supported by Machado.

The opposition leader, who expressed her desire to return to Venezuela as soon as possible, cited this election as an example that Venezuelan society wants free elections.

“If we could do that in such extreme conditions, imagine now, when we have the support of the US government, when people feel that we are not alone”, he highlighted.