The United States State Department today reaffirmed its three‑phase plan for Venezuela’s political transition, urging the country to continue toward economic recovery and political reconciliation before holding democratic elections in 2027. The statement followed a meeting on Monday between Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Venezuelan Foreign Minister Oliver Blanco, the same day the U.S. extradition of former president Nicolás Maduro was completed and opposition leader Maria Corina Machado returned to Caracas.
In a readout after the meeting, the State Department said Washington remains committed to the “stabilization, economic recovery and political reconciliation” sequence that forms the backbone of the Trump administration’s strategy. The plan also explicitly sets the 2027 date for presidential elections, a detail that was echoed in Machado’s public remarks when she thanked the U.S. president and Rubio for their support.
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“Rubio has set out a sequence of events aimed at moving toward a democratic transition that makes clear the holding of presidential elections in 2027.”In a statement carried by Al Jazeera, Machado said she had arrived in Venezuela to organise a movement in preparation for those forthcoming elections.
The meeting arrived almost a year after U.S. forces seized Maduro in Caracas and transferred him to Washington on charges of drug trafficking and other crimes. While Rubio and Blanco did not speak to the media after their discussion, the State Department’s readout underscored the U.S. insistence that Venezuela remain on the agreed‑upon path.
Although not directly related to the phased plan, the U.S. has also been pursuing oil deals in Venezuela, including an agreement that would grant a U.S. government‑owned entity a 35 percent stake in a Venezuela‑based oil venture and guarantee the U.S. a 20 percent share of its output at cost. This development, reported by Al Jazeera, reflects the broader backdrop of U.S. engagement in the country’s transition.
