Venezuela Transition, Machado Excluded.
Venezuela Advances Political Transition Under US Influence; Leaders Agree Agenda, Excluding MarÃa Corina Machado.
Anonymous
Venezuela took a significant step toward political transition on June 18, 2026, when Jorge RodrÃguez, president of the current National Assembly, met with Dinorah Figuera, president of the 2015 opposition-led assembly in exile, at the Palacio Federal Legislativo in Caracas. The two sides agreed on a "paritary technical and political table" to rebuild Venezuela's democratic institutions, according to El Periódico. The meeting was brokered by the United States government.
The most striking detail: Nobel Peace Prize winner MarÃa Corina Machado was left out. Machado, who won the prize in December 2025 and is the face of Venezuela's mass opposition movement, did not sign the accord. Washington instead chose to work through established legislative figures — a sharp turn toward what analysts are calling a managed, institutional transition, according to La Provincia.
Figuera Returns from Eight Years in Exile
Dinorah Figuera landed at MaiquetÃa Airport on the afternoon of June 18 via American Airlines, ending eight years of exile in Spain. U.S. Chargé d'Affaires John Barrett met her upon arrival to coordinate the next steps. Figuera said she was acting on a direct invitation from the U.S. State Department. Her return marked the first time in years that both rival legislative bodies sat at the same table inside Venezuela.
Hours later, Figuera and RodrÃguez signed a "Common Agenda" inside the National Assembly. RodrÃguez said the agreement establishes a "methodology for peaceful concertation" aimed at "consolidation of peace and a future of prosperity," according to El Periódico de Aragón. Figuera framed her role as "institutional" — focused on building a credible National Electoral Council, or CNE, the body that runs Venezuela's elections.
Maduro Gone, But Chavismo Survives at the Table
The backdrop to this deal is dramatic. A military operation in January 2026 removed Nicolás Maduro from power. He is now detained at a facility in Brooklyn, with his next court hearing set for June 30. The U.S. formally recognized Delcy RodrÃguez — Maduro's former vice president and Jorge RodrÃguez's sister — as acting president in March 2026, and removed her from the Treasury's OFAC sanctions list on April 1.
Political analyst Mariana Gómez del Campo noted that while Maduro is "out of the game," the transition is unique because "Chavismo survived" as a permanent factor in the new political order, according to El Correo Gallego. The June 18 accord reflects exactly that reality: Chavismo's legislative arm sits at the same table as the opposition, with Washington's blessing.
Washington Sidelines Machado in Favor of Realpolitik
The exclusion of Machado is not accidental. Earlier in 2026, U.S. officials held talks in Qatar with Venezuelan representatives. Reports indicate Washington viewed Machado's uncompromising stance as a risk to an orderly exit for mid-level Chavista officials. The U.S. State Department spokesperson Thomas Pigott welcomed the June 18 meeting as a "first step toward a roadmap for democratic transition," calling the 2015 National Assembly the "last democratically elected entity" it recognizes, according to La Opinión de Murcia.
Machado, currently in Oslo, said she supports the U.S.-led strategy. But she was not a signatory. She has announced plans to return physically to Venezuela to "articulate a mass presence" that the institutional opposition currently lacks, according to Información. The tension is stark: Machado holds the popular mandate from 2024 and a Nobel Prize, while institutional power is being divided between the RodrÃguez family and Figuera's 2015 assembly.
Electoral Reform and Oil Money: What Comes Next
The "Technical Table" will immediately begin debating new appointments for the CNE, the electoral body widely seen as the key to any credible future election. The process follows a three-phase plan — known informally as the Rubio Plan — that prioritizes oil stabilization first, then social recovery, then political reform. The U.S. Treasury has begun auditing Venezuelan oil funds held in escrow, and their release is tied directly to the table's progress, according to El DÃa.
The road ahead is fragile. The accord gives institutional form to a transition, but the gap between the negotiating table and Venezuelan society remains wide. Machado's base views the June 18 deal as a maneuver to sideline the person who earned the real democratic mandate. International observers note the U.S. has fully abandoned its "maximum pressure" tactics in favor of what one analyst called a "co-governance" model — sharing power during the transition, according to Diario de Mallorca.
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