The Three Main Demands The U.S. Made To Venezuela's New Interim President: Report

The Trump administration has conveyed three main demands to Venezuela's interim President Delcy Rodriguez following her rise to power in the South American country, according to a new report.

Citing a U.S. official familiar with the matter, Politico detailed that the demands are cracking down on drug flows, removing operatives from countries such as Iran and Cuba, and refrain from selling oil to U.S. adversaries.

Administration officers also expect Rodriguez to eventually hold free elections and step down, even if there are no set dates for such events. In fact, President Donald Trump said Venezuela won't have elections in the next 30 days and the country must be "nursed back to health" before they can take place.

Speaking to NBC News, Trump added that the U.S. has to "fix the country first." "You can't have an election. There's no way the people could even vote," he added.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio made a similar claim following the capture of authoritarian President Nicolas Maduro, saying the notion of holding elections immediately is "absurd."

Rodriguez has been backed to take control of the country after the capture of Maduro, partly as a result of a CIA analysis that concluded that regime insiders would be best suited to lead a temporary government should he fall.

The Wall Street Journal noted that Rodriguez and two other top regime figures, Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello and Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez would also be key in such a scenario. The two officials, who also face charges in the U.S., could disrupt any efforts to conduct a transition and would therefore be unlikely to cooperate with Washington, the outlet added.

The same analysis claimed that opposition leader Maria Corina Machado and Edmundo Gonzalez, considered the winner of the 2024 election in the country by the U.S., would struggle to overcome resistance from security forces, drug-trafficking networks and political opponents.