Venezuela's Rodriguez promises elections to transition to 'full democracy'

Venezuela's interim ​President Delcy Rodriguez told the ​UN General Assembly on Wednesday ‌that the ​country would hold elections as part of a transition to "full democracy," 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 ⁠dialogue 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 dialogue 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."