Venezuela's interim President Delcy Rodriguez told the UN General Assembly on Wednesday (September 23) that the country would hold elections, but did not give a specific date for the vote.

"I want to make this very clear at this General Assembly: there will be elections in Venezuela," said Rodriguez, who came to power after American forces captured then-President Nicolas Maduro in a January raid.

In her remarks, Rodriguez said the government had initiated talks with the opposition and would guarantee the participation of all political forces. She added that national institutions are being prepared for the electoral process.

Critics say Washington has sidelined the Venezuelan opposition, dropping demands for free elections in favor of oil and investment deals with the interim government.

Some US lawmakers have also called for elections, amid criticism that the Trump administration has failed to extract meaningful democratic concessions from Rodriguez's government.

"We have opened a political dialog with opposition groups aimed at a process with equal conditions for all," said Rodriguez.

Rodriguez briefly met with US President Donald Trump on sidelines of the UN General Assembly on Tuesday and praised him for restarting dialog with Venezuela.

Among other matters, Trump and Rodriguez discussed restructuring the South American nation's billions of dollars in sovereign debt.

"This is the time to build the nation that many people want to return to," Rodriguez said, but cautioned that economic recovery "will take time."

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

UNITED NATIONS (SEPTEMBER 23, 2026) (UNTV - Access all)

1. ACTING PRESIDENT OF VENEZUELA DELCY RODRÍGUEZ ARRIVING AT UNITED NATIONS PODIUM FOR SPEECH

2. (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) ACTING PRESIDENT OF VENEZUELA, DELCY RODRIGUEZ, SAYING:

"Venezuela will guarantee real conditions of participation for all political forces in the country. Democracy is not measured by the existence of elections, democracy is measured by the quality of the competition that precedes those elections. An election must be a solution, not a generator of irreconcilable conflicts. I want to make this very clear at this General Assembly: there will be elections in Venezuela, and in that direction we have started a political dialogue with sectors of the opposition that will lead to a process on equal terms for all."

3. REPRESENTATIVES OF COUNTRIES LISTENING TO SPEECH

4. (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) ACTING PRESIDENT OF VENEZUELA, DELCY RODRÍGUEZ, SAYING:

"Venezuelans, I do not promise an easy path, the country's recovery will take time, the reconstruction of the national soul will be our priority. We will walk united as one nation that decided after the pain to choose hope. May this political and geopolitical moment go down in history as the day we decided to rise together to build the rebirth of Venezuela."

5. RODRÍGUEZ DURING SPEECH AT UNITED NATIONS

6. (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) ACTING PRESIDENT OF VENEZUELA, DELCY RODRÍGUEZ, SAYING:

"I want, at this 81st UN General Assembly, to thank President Donald Trump and his government for their willingness to resume the path of diplomatic relations and cooperation with Venezuela. The last time two presidents of Venezuela and the United States met was in 2009. Today we are working seriously to resolve existing differences through dialogue, but mainly to pave the way for energy relations, the promotion of security, the common fight against transnational crime and economic cooperation for the benefit of both peoples and our continent."

7. RODRIGUEZ DURING SPEECH AT UNITED NATIONS

8. REPRESENTATIVES OF COUNTRIES DURING SPEECH

9. (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) ACTING PRESIDENT OF VENEZUELA, DELCY RODRÍGUEZ, SAYING:

"To the young people who have grown up seeing a fractured country and who many times decided to leave searching for what they could not find in our country, I tell them that it is worth believing again, this is the moment to build the country to which many want to return, and not only the one from which many wanted to flee."

10. REPRESENTATIVES OF VARIOUS COUNTRIES APPLAUDING AT END OF SPEECH

11. RODRIGUEZ WALKING AWAY AT END OF SPEECH