Rubio says Venezuela's electoral infrastructure must be replaced before a vote

US Secretary ​of State Marco Rubio ‌said on ​Monday that Venezuela's electoral infrastructure was designed to rig elections and so ‌must be quickly replaced before a valid election can be held.

Rubio spoke to reporters by phone a day after ‌opposition leader Maria Corina Machado returned to Venezuela for ‌the first time since the US captured he country's then President Nicolas Maduro in January and took him to New York for ⁠trial. The ​US believes ⁠that talks currently underway between the interim government in Caracas and opposition ⁠politicians will see a new supreme judicial tribunal in place ​by the end of this year and a new ⁠electoral council shortly thereafter, a senior US State Department official said earlier.

"I ⁠think ​we're making real progress in that regard," Rubio said. "But if anybody tries to derail that process, ⁠they're doing a great harm to Venezuela." Maduro's government had set up ⁠the ⁠country's electoral infrastructure to rig elections so must be quickly changed, Rubio added.