Trump holds talks with Venezuela's interim leader on elections

US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he spoke with Venezuela’s interim leader Delcy Rodriguez about the upcoming elections.

According to Reuters, Rodriguez met briefly with Trump on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, where she praised him for resuming dialogue with Venezuela.

Reuters also reported that this was Rodriguez’s first visit to the United States since she assumed the interim presidency following Nicolás Maduro’s detention by Venezuelan authorities earlier this year.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said recently that Trump and Rodriguez discussed restructuring Venezuela’s sovereign debt, which amounts to billions of dollars, and noted that Washington has applied pressure for political change.

Rodriguez told the UN General Assembly that elections would be held in her country as part of a transitional process toward “full democracy,” though she did not specify a timeline.

Rodriguez assumed the role of interim leader after Maduro’s detention. For the past nine months, she has refrained from setting a date for elections.