Machado says Venezuelan elections could happen this year, Politico reports

WASHINGTON, Feb 5 (Reuters) - ⁠Venezuelan opposition leader ⁠Maria ‍Corina Machado said she believed elections could be held in her country later this ‍year, speaking to Politico in an interview released ​on Thursday.

"We believe that a real transferring process with manual voting … ​could be done in nine to 10 months," Machado said. "But, well, that depends when you start."

Machado, whose party said it won ​70% of the vote in Venezuela's 2024 election, met with President Donald Trump and spoke with ​his top diplomat and U.S. lawmakers last month following the U.S. capture of ‌the country's longtime leader Nicolas Maduro.

"We have a legitimate leadership with huge popular support and ​our armed forces are also ⁠supportive of a transition to democracy," she told Politico.

Trump in January said he was ‌considering getting Machado "involved some way" even as he has backed Venezuela's interim President Delcy Rodriguez.

Machado told Politico that she ‌had not yet spoken to Trump about the election process.

Secretary of ‌State Marco Rubio told U.S. lawmakers at a Jan. 28 hearing that Venezuela's new leaders were moving toward closer ties with ‍Washington before meeting with Machado later that day.

U.S. intelligence reports have questioned whether Rodriguez ⁠is fully on board with the strategy for her country and if she intends to formally cut ties with U.S. adversaries, Reuters reported last month.

(Writing by Susan Heavey; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama )

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