Seven months after Trump's intervention, US senators call for elections in Venezuela

A group of Republican and Democratic US senators have called for elections in Venezuela, seven months after President Donald Trump's administration forcibly removed then-President Nicolas Maduro and installed his Vice President Delcy Rodriguez as acting president, the British agency Reuters reported today.

Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas and Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire introduced a resolution last night reaffirming US support for the elections in Venezuela, calling for the release of political prisoners and stating that anyone - including senior government officials - should be punished if responsible for harming anyone running for public office.

The bipartisan resolution comes amid growing frustration over what critics see as the Trump administration's failure to enact real change in Venezuela by pushing the country's government, now led by acting President Delcy Rodriguez, toward free and fair elections.

Talks between Venezuela's interim government and a faction of the opposition are set to begin in the coming days, but without Maria Corina Machado, the country's most popular opposition leader.

"The people of Venezuela deserve free, fair and transparent elections, and it is vital to the national security interests of the United States that those elections be held as soon as possible," said Cruz, the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Jeanne Shaheen, the top Democrat on the committee, said that authorities in Caracas must release all political prisoners and allow all political actors, including Maria Corina Machado, to safely return and participate in political activities.

The resolution has five other co-sponsors, four Democrats and one Republican.

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Machado left Venezuela late last year to accept the Nobel Prize after largely living in hiding since the disputed 2024 presidential election.

She vowed to return to help respond to two devastating earthquakes in June, frustrating US officials who believe the timing is not right.

Trump denied media reports that his administration had told Maria Corina Machado not to return. She has been publicly marginalized by Washington since the arrest and removal of Maduro, as US officials believe she lacks sufficient support to lead the country.