Marco Rubio hopes Venezuela's transition takes months, not years

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated Tuesday that he anticipates Venezuela's political transition will occur in a matter of months, rather than years, preceding initial negotiations between the government and opposition.

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I think it's going to require some constancy and a bit of patience; not years, but months and weeks.

Seven months after Nicolás Maduro's capture in a U.S. military operation, delegates representing interim president Delcy Rodríguez and opposition figures are scheduled to meet this week in Caracas. "I think it's going to require some constancy and a bit of patience; not years, but months and weeks," Rubio told reporters on the sidelines of an event with Paraguayan Vice President Pedro Alliana.

Following Maduro's downfall in early January, Rubio became the primary architect of President Donald Trump's policy toward Venezuela. Trump views the country primarily as a source of hydrocarbon supplies, a role that has become even more critical for the U.S. due to the war with Iran and the resulting surge in crude oil prices.

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We want to improve daily life, help improve the daily lives of Venezuelans in economic terms, so that they are better, more prosperous. I think that also contributes to facilitating the political transition.

The Venezuelan opposition and human rights groups are calling for intensified political dialogue, a sentiment echoed by Democratic and Republican voices in the U.S. Congress. Rubio previously outlined a three-phase transition for Venezuela: economic stabilization, political transition, and finally, full elections. He reiterated Tuesday that improving the daily lives and economic prosperity of Venezuelans would help facilitate the political transition.

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If you look at transitions in Eastern Europe, after the fall of the Iron Curtain, or Paraguay, a country that underwent a transition from authoritarianism to democracy that took almost three and a half years... these things are difficult.