Amid the rapprochement between Venezuela and the United States following the oil agreement of August 28, which has opened a new stage of cooperation between the two countries, President Donald Trump stated this Wednesday that interim leader Delcy Rodríguez “wants” elections to be held, but he opined that the country is still “not ready” for elections, although he hopes they will be held “soon.” Shortly after, Rodríguez assured that there will be elections when “Venezuela is ready.”
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“I don’t think they are ready yet. We took them out of a dictatorship and we get along very well with the Government. Delcy, as you know, is doing a very, very good job. She is very respected and we want that (elections) and they also want it. Delcy wants it, but they are not ready yet,” Trump told the press at the White House. The Republican added that, although he considers the country is still not ready, he believes there could be elections soon. “They are not ready yet. But soon. We hope to be able to do it soon,” he said.
In the same vein, Delcy Rodríguez herself supported Trump’s words from Caracas, assuring that there will be elections in Venezuela to the extent that the country is prepared for it, reported the Spanish media 20 Minutos.
Regarding the criticized oil agreement, seen by many Venezuelans as a surrender to Washington, Rodríguez expressed this Wednesday her hope that it will be for the good “of the American people.”
“I hope that the great agreement signed on August 28 between Venezuela and the United States for the production of 65 billion barrels that are in reserve in those fields also translates into benefits for the people of the United States, I know that is President Donald Trump’s goal,” Rodríguez said during an event at the Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas.
In the presence of U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, the Chavista leader thanked Trump again and praised the work the Republican government has done to reach the historic energy agreement that grants the United States more than 20% of Venezuela’s crude oil reserves.
“Chris, convey our thanks for all the joint effort your Government has deployed, the State Department, the Department of Energy, the entire Government as a whole, striving to carry out the goal of having win-win agreements, of mutual benefit,” she stated.
Meanwhile, Venezuelan opposition leader Henrique Capriles called this Wednesday for a “new Government” in Venezuela after denouncing that interim leader Delcy Rodríguez is not stabilizing the economy and “the devaluation and inflation continue unchecked.”
“It is clear that Venezuela needs a new Government that stops managing the crisis and starts improving the quality of life of Venezuelans,” Capriles said in a social media post criticizing that Delcy Rodríguez’s measures have no effect to alleviate the economic crisis in the country.
“There is not a single economic measure to stabilize the exchange rate and defend the income of Venezuelan families. Pure propaganda in the media talking about a rebirth that no one perceives,” said the politician, a former presidential candidate who ran against Hugo Chavez in 2012 and Nicolás Maduro in 2013.
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