U.S. recruits exiled opposition leader for Venezuela transition talks

Venezuela eased restrictions but set no presidential-election date

The United States recruited exiled Venezuelan opposition politician Dinorah Figuera to return to Venezuela and lead an opposition delegation in talks with the government over the country’s democratic future, The Wall Street Journal reported Oct. 25, 2026. The third round of negotiations, which concluded this week in Caracas, produced initial steps toward political and judicial reform, but the sides have not agreed on a timetable for presidential elections. U.S. officials said a fourth round is set for November.

The Venezuelan government eased some restrictions on independent media and agreed to review laws limiting political rights. Figuera said she was counting on Washington’s significant leverage over former Maduro officials to secure a free vote. She previously headed the opposition-controlled National Assembly elected in 2015, which Washington still recognizes as the country’s last freely elected legislature.

Six months ago, the 65-year-old doctor and former Venezuelan opposition lawmaker was caring for elderly people in Spain to make ends meet, according to the report. Her house in Venezuela had been seized, she had been accused of treason, and a close political ally had been tortured and killed in government custody. A senior State Department official then called her to enlist her for an unlikely assignment: return to Venezuela and negotiate a democratic transition with the same officials who had driven her into exile.

In her first meeting, she faced Jorge Rodríguez, a longtime loyalist of former leader Nicolás Maduro who heads Venezuela’s legislature and is Delcy Rodríguez’s brother. Figuera said she told him, “I am not afraid of you,” adding, “Especially with the United States backing me.”

Figuera said no one in Venezuela wanted to negotiate with those officials. “No one wanted to sit down with these people, no one,” she said. “Even the word ‘reconciliation’ was difficult to say in this country—so difficult that I only dared to say it a week ago.”

Delcy Rodríguez took over after U.S. forces captured Maduro in a Jan. 3 raid, becoming Venezuela’s internationally recognized interim president. Trump praised her as “highly respected” and a “wonderful person” and posed for smiling photos with her. Washington also struck sweeping oil agreements with her government and lifted sanctions on her and other top officials. Trump says Venezuela will eventually hold elections, but he has said he is not in a rush for them to occur.

Together, those moves have brought U.S. officials into oil, diplomatic and security ties with Maduro loyalists who could eventually negotiate their way out of power. Figuera said she had come to understand Washington’s decision to work with Alejandro Betancourt, the Venezuelan oilman chosen as the U.S. partner in a sweeping oil deal. She accepts the need for a gradual transition and for rebuilding the country’s courts and electoral institutions before setting an election date.

Figuera said she was confident in the backing of Secretary of State Marco Rubio, whom she met earlier this month in Washington. She said U.S. officials intervened when Jorge Rodríguez said Venezuelan authorities were too consumed with earthquake relief to discuss political reforms during the summer. “Within three days, he had to sit back down at the table,” Figuera said.

U.S. officials say the transition talks are producing results and that cooperation with the interim government is laying the groundwork for eventual elections. A senior official said the goal of a free and fair vote is “baked into this.” The officials insist the process is “purely Venezuelan-led” with the United States “facilitating and accompanying the process.” Their support includes covering the opposition delegation’s travel, hotel accommodations and per diem expenses, the senior State Department official said.

Washington’s role is broader than facilitation. Trump administration officials helped design the negotiating framework and recruited Figuera to return from exile, and opposition leaders said U.S. officials intervened when talks encountered resistance. U.S. officials found in Figuera a negotiator willing to accept difficult compromises. She said the American decision to keep Delcy Rodríguez in power “was a shock to all of us,” but said she understood why it was necessary because the opposition lacked control of the military and other government institutions.

Figuera met Delcy Rodríguez this week at the presidential palace in an encounter broadcast on state television. Some opposition figures said the appearance played into the government’s hands. The Venezuelan pollster Meganalisis found last month that more than 80% of respondents distrusted the talks, and a similar percentage said they did not expect to benefit from them. Figuera nonetheless said she accepts the gradual transition and has said, “We think that justice will come, but for now we have to secure democracy.” She said former Maduro officials are cooperating, unlike in previous failed negotiations, because “they are trying to save themselves and secure guarantees.”

The negotiations have also exposed a rift with María Corina Machado, Venezuela’s most prominent opposition leader. Machado remains in Panama after repeated failed attempts to return and has supported the talks while accusing Washington of excluding her. In an August interview, she warned that the process could become another opportunity for Maduro loyalists to buy time. Figuera disputed that Machado had been shut out: “We invited them,” she said. Figuera said Machado declined regular updates amid disagreements over who should lead the negotiations; Machado’s aides did not respond to requests for comment.

On the streets of Caracas, Carlos Fernandez, a youth activist for Machado’s party, cast doubt on the talks and called for elections next year. “A small group is trying to tell us that transitions are slow,” he said, “that you have to be patient, that this is all there is and that we have to put up with it.” Separately, a recent AtlasIntel/Bloomberg poll found that disapproval of Delcy Rodríguez’s management had reached a record high of 65%. The same poll put Trump’s popularity at a new low of 28%, down from 53% in February.

Venezuelans are also coping with 400% inflation and power cuts, conditions that have left many skeptical of additional promises. Ismael Gutierrez, a 69-year-old retiree, described the talks from his patio during a blackout: “They talk, and talk and talk, while we get to sit here in the dark.” “There’s no hope with any of these leaders,” he said. U.S. officials said the fourth round scheduled for November would continue a process that has brought some reforms but has yet to produce an election timetable or broad public confidence.