Rubio sees Venezuela vote next year if reforms advance
Rubio said talks should produce a reformed Supreme Court by mid-December, with electoral council appointments expected to be discussed next week.
Venezuela could hold elections next year if key reforms come first, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday, The New York Times said in a statement.
Rubio made the remarks in an interview with The New York Times at the White House, where he said Washington was helping Venezuela move toward democracy.
He declined to promise that a vote would take place before President Donald Trump leaves office.
Rubio named replacing Venezuela's Supreme Court and electoral council, overhauling its security forces and restructuring its national debt as top priorities.
He said US-backed talks between the interim government and opposition representatives should produce a reformed Supreme Court by mid-December.
Negotiators are also due to meet next week to discuss appointing new electoral council members, Rubio said.
He stressed that Venezuela's armed forces must back any future government, saying the military's cooperation would be essential to political stability.
Rubio cited Venezuela's debt, estimated at more than $200 billion, as a major barrier to economic recovery and foreign investment.
A US official told the newspaper that restructuring the debt mattered for eventually lifting broad American sanctions, partly because creditors could otherwise try to seize Venezuelan assets.
Rubio also backed wider military cooperation between Washington and Caracas, including a possible agreement giving legal protection to US troops operating in Venezuela.
He said the two governments had not yet discussed that arrangement in detail.
The US carried out a military operation in Venezuela on Jan. 3, seizing President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, and Trump said his administration would run the country and its oil assets during a transition period.
Delcy Rodriguez, then vice president, was sworn in as interim president on Jan. 5, taking the oath before the National Assembly two days after the capture.
