Published on 6/19/2026
Members of Venezuela’s interim government met Thursday with a major opposition party to discuss achieving a “democratic transition” in the country, according to what the US State Department announced.
State Department spokesman Tommy Pigot said the meeting between National Assembly Speaker Jorge Rodriguez and former opposition lawmaker Dinora Figuera, who returned to Caracas on Thursday after spending eight years in exile, “represents a first step in what will be a deliberate process to ensure a free and open Venezuelan society.”
Figuera, 65, assumed the presidency of the National Assembly in 2015 before going into exile in 2018 after being subjected to threats and harassment because she spoke on behalf of her colleague in the Justice First party, Fernando Alban, who died in prison in October of the same year.
American forces arrested Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in January, and since then his deputy Delcy Rodriguez has assumed leadership of the Venezuelan government by proxy.
Upon her return to Venezuela, Figuera sought to distance herself from opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Maria Corina Machado, who recently launched her own initiative to negotiate a democratic transition in Venezuela.
“At this time, I am responding to an invitation from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to take on all these challenges, regarding the formation of a credible national electoral council,” Figuera told reporters upon her arrival at the airport.
The National Assembly later confirmed Figuera’s meeting with Jorge Rodriguez, the acting president’s brother, in her capacity as a representative of opposition deputies for the period between 2015 and 2020.
The US Embassy in Caracas issued a statement saying that Figuera met in April with a State Department official to discuss ways to achieve a stable, orderly, and integrated democratic transition.
Earlier this month, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio addressed Washington’s desire to hold elections in Venezuela, telling reporters: “It is clear that we need a new electoral commission, and ultimately, Venezuela’s future lies in free and fair multi-party elections.”
