Venezuela's Acting Leader Promises Elections Without a Date as Rubio, Scott and Florida's Diaspora Press for More

Nine months after U.S. forces captured Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela's acting president, Delcy Rodríguez, told the United Nations that her country will hold elections but offered no date, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio said days later that Washington is working toward free and fair elections "as soon as possible." For Florida, home to the largest Venezuelan community in the United States, the gap between those two statements is now a central question in Doral, in Congress and in the Nov. 3 midterm campaigns.

Florida Republicans, led by U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, are pressing the Trump administration to demand the release of every political prisoner and a clear path for opposition leader María Corina Machado, even as President Donald Trump has praised Rodríguez for cooperating with Washington.

A promise at the UN, with no calendar

Rodríguez addressed the 81st U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday, Sept. 23, a day after meeting Trump on the sidelines of the gathering at the Lotte New York Palace Hotel, the first meeting between a U.S. president and a Venezuelan leader in more than 11 years, according to news reports. In her speech, she said "Elections will be held in Venezuela" and that her government had opened a political dialogue with opposition sectors, according to accounts of the address. She said the Venezuelan people would determine the right moment and that the country's institutions would be prepared to guarantee an inclusive and transparent process.

She did not set a date. Caracas described the Trump meeting as historic and highlighted talks on energy, mining and security, according to reports, without mentioning a political transition.

Rubio: elections "as soon as possible"

Rubio, the former Florida senator who oversees U.S. policy toward Venezuela, addressed the timeline in a Fox News interview with Sean Hannity that aired Sept. 29. He said the administration is "working very hard with the 2015 National Assembly to put in place the conditions necessary to have free and fair elections as soon as possible," according to a wire report on the interview published by the Spokesman-Review and Yahoo News. The 2015 National Assembly is the last legislature elected with an opposition majority, and its recognition has long been a priority for exile groups in South Florida.

Rubio did not offer a date either, and reports on his remarks noted his view that holding a vote immediately under institutions inherited from the Maduro government would not guarantee a democratic result. In the same interview he warned Cuba's leaders they would "learn the lesson the hard way" if they did not change course.

Machado, whose movement claimed victory in Venezuela's disputed 2024 presidential election, remains barred from running and has been blocked seven times from returning to the country, according to the same report. Her supporters marched on Sunday, Sept. 27, to demand her safe return and democratic elections.

How Venezuela got here

U.S. forces captured Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, on Jan. 3 in an operation the administration called Operation Absolute Resolve. Both were flown to New York and arraigned Jan. 5 in federal court in Manhattan, where they pleaded not guilty to drug trafficking charges; the criminal case remains pending. Venezuela's Supreme Tribunal of Justice ordered Rodríguez, then vice president, to assume the presidency, and she was sworn in Jan. 5.

Since then, the acting government has cooperated with Washington on several fronts. The United States announced an oil supply agreement in January, reopened its embassy in Caracas for the first time since 2019 and eased sanctions on Venezuelan oil trade in February. Venezuela's legislature approved an amnesty law for political prisoners on Feb. 19, though it excludes people convicted of crimes such as murder, drug trafficking and corruption.

Trump has been openly supportive of the arrangement. Speaking at a summit at Trump National Doral in March, he said Rodríguez was "doing a great job because she's working with us."

Political prisoners and Rick Scott's push

The clearest measure of change, for many Venezuelans in Florida, is the prison count. Foro Penal, the Venezuelan human rights group that tracks political detentions, counted 324 political prisoners as of Sept. 28, down from 344 on Sept. 14, according to Venezuelan media reports of its figures. The group had estimated more than 800 before January. Foro Penal also counts more than 11,000 people still subject to court-imposed restrictions on their liberty.

Scott has been the most persistent Florida voice on the issue. He has called for every political prisoner to be released "without exceptions or conditions," and before the UN meeting warned that a photograph of Trump with Rodríguez would be a slap in the face for Venezuelans. After the meeting, he posted that Rodríguez is "NOT the legitimate president" and called for restoring democratic institutions and allowing Machado to participate. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, a Miami Republican, said images of the meeting were "like a kick in the gut."

The positions put Florida's Republican delegation slightly at odds with an administration they otherwise support. Scott has credited the leadership of Trump and Rubio while insisting the transition end in an election that includes the opposition.

Doral watches, and organizes

In Doral, where roughly four in 10 residents report Venezuelan ancestry, the UN meeting drew protests. Activists gathered at Doral City Hall to criticize the meeting and demand the city end its 287(g) agreement allowing local police to assist ICE, according to reports. Adelys Ferro, executive director of the Venezuelan American Caucus, said Trump was giving legitimacy to the representative of what she called an illegitimate dictatorship.

On Friday, Oct. 2, a new Coalition of Venezuelans in the USA formed in Doral to denounce deportations and pledge to mobilize voters for the midterms, according to reports by CiberCuba and El Diario. The coalition said it would not endorse candidates. Democrats, including 26th District candidate Nicole Locklin, have made immigration arrests in Doral a campaign theme against Republican incumbents.

The immigration picture is closely tied to the transition. On Monday, Oct. 5, the U.S. Supreme Court vacated an appeals court ruling that had found the end of Temporary Protected Status for Venezuelans unlawful and sent the case back for reconsideration. Deportation flights to Caracas, paused after the June 24 earthquakes that the Venezuelan government says killed more than 6,000 people, resumed in early August.

Venezuela policy has also surfaced in Miami's federal courthouse. On Oct. 2, former Miami Congressman David Rivera was sentenced to 10 years in prison for secretly lobbying on behalf of Venezuela's government under a contract with its state oil company.

What's next

No election date has been announced in Caracas, and neither the State Department nor the acting government has publicly outlined a timetable. Rubio's comments suggest Washington will tie the timing to conditions it negotiates with the 2015 National Assembly, rather than to an immediate vote. Watch for Foro Penal's next count, any movement on Machado's eligibility and return, and the pace of the Maduro prosecution in New York.

In Florida, the question will be tested at the ballot box first. Venezuelan Americans are concentrated in Miami-Dade and Broward counties, and both parties are courting them in South Florida's House races. Election Day is Nov. 3, and early voting runs statewide from Oct. 24 to Oct. 31.