A bipartisan group of U.S. senators on Tuesday called for immediate steps to restore democratic processes in Venezuela, introducing a resolution that demands free elections, the release of political prisoners and accountability for anyone found to have harmed individuals seeking public office.
The resolution was introduced by Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas and Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire. Cruz, a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a statement that "the people of Venezuela deserve free, fair, and transparent elections, and it is vital to the national security interests of the United States that those elections occur expeditiously."
Shaheen, the committee’s top Democrat, said Venezuelan authorities in Caracas must free all political prisoners and permit the safe return and political participation of all actors, explicitly including Maria Corina Machado. The measure attracted five additional co-sponsors: four Democrats and one Republican.
The senators framed the resolution against the backdrop of a dramatic shift in Venezuela’s leadership seven months earlier, when the Trump administration removed then-President Nicolas Maduro and installed his vice president as acting president. The government in Caracas is now led by acting President Delcy Rodriguez.
Supporters of the resolution also stipulate that anyone found responsible for harming a person seeking public office - including senior government officials - should be punished. The text of the resolution emphasizes accountability alongside the call for elections.
Diplomatic activity continues in Venezuela: talks between the country’s interim government and a faction of the opposition are set to begin in the coming days. Those discussions, however, are expected to move forward without Maria Corina Machado, the most popular opposition leader in the country, participating.
Machado, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, left Venezuela late last year to receive her Nobel after spending most of the period since a contested 2024 presidential election in hiding. She has said she plans to return to assist with the response to June’s devastating twin earthquakes, an intention that has frustrated U.S. officials who consider it not the right time for her return. President Trump has denied media reports that his administration told Machado not to return.
Since Maduro’s removal, Machado has repeatedly been sidelined by Washington. U.S. officials have said she does not have sufficient support to lead the country, a judgment that has factored into how U.S. policymakers have engaged with Venezuelan opposition figures.
The bipartisan resolution comes amid mounting frustration among critics who argue that the Trump administration has not secured meaningful reform in Venezuela or pushed the government led by acting President Delcy Rodriguez toward genuinely free and fair elections. The senators’ action underlines continued U.S. attention to Venezuela’s political trajectory and the demand that democratic norms be restored.
Summary: Bipartisan senators introduced a resolution urging free and prompt elections in Venezuela, the release of political prisoners, and accountability for those who harm political actors. The move follows leadership changes in Caracas earlier this year and precedes talks between the interim government and part of the opposition that will not include Maria Corina Machado.