Rubio and Blanco discuss political detainees and election reform in Venezuela

Foro Penal says 322 people remain in detention

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met Venezuelan Foreign Minister Oliver Blanco on Monday and called for the release of political prisoners still detained in Venezuela, the U.S. State Department said. Rubio and Blanco also discussed reforms aimed at laying the groundwork for free, fair and credible elections, the department said. Foro Penal, a Venezuelan prisoners’ rights group, said 322 people remained in detention.

More than 1,000 political prisoners have been freed since U.S. forces seized Maduro in the January 3 raid on Caracas. The forces took him to New York, where he faces trial on drug-trafficking and torture charges. BBC News reported that Maduro pleaded not guilty to new torture-related charges.

In Monday’s statement, the U.S. State Department stressed that the United States remained committed to President Donald Trump’s three-phase plan, consisting of “stabilisation, economic recovery and political reconciliation, and democratic transition”. Opposition parties within Venezuela have expressed impatience with the slow pace of reforms.

BBC News reported that Vice President Delcy Rodríguez was sworn in as interim president after U.S. forces seized Maduro. BBC News described Rodríguez as a loyalist and said the Trump administration backed her.

A week earlier, Rubio told journalists that Venezuela’s “election infrastructure” had to be replaced for fresh elections to be valid. “Not in 10 years, not in five years, not in two years; it needs to happen quickly under the timelines that we’ve established,” he insisted.

Days later, Rodríguez told Venezuelans in a televised address that “there will be elections” under a “renewed” electoral authority, but she gave no timeline for when an election could be held. Machado has been pushing for elections in 2027. At one point, she suggested 24 July 2027, the anniversary of the birth of independence hero Simón Bolivar, but she has since returned to calling for a vote at some point in the next year.

Many of those in detention were arrested in the aftermath of the 2024 presidential election. The National Electoral Council (CNE), described by BBC News as dominated by government loyalists, declared the incumbent Maduro the winner even though copies of the voting tallies collected by the opposition and verified by independent media suggested that the opposition candidate had won.

The Carter Center, which had sent independent observers to Venezuela, said the election “could not be considered democratic”. A UN fact-finding mission found that, in the months following the election, the Venezuelan government orchestrated “a harsh repression against persons perceived as political opponents or simply because they express dissent or critical views against the authorities”.

The release of political prisoners had long been a demand from opposition leader María Corina Machado, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2025. BBC video footage showed crowds welcoming Machado after months in exile. She returned to Venezuela on 25 October after living in exile for almost a year, and one of her first meetings was with relatives of political detainees. Upon her return, Machado called for elections.