Rubio Sees New Venezuela Court by December

Politics: Venezuela

Published Monday, 9 November, 5:24 p.m. ET (6:24 p.m. Caracas) · Source: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (public remarks), US State Department, Venezuelan National Electoral Council

Venezuela’s long road back to an election just got its first dated milestone. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Monday, 9 November 2026, that new justices should sit on the country’s Supreme Court by mid-December, with a new electoral council created “very quickly” afterwards.

Washington is steering this process, as our guide to the Venezuela US tensions standoff explains. The order of the steps matters, because no presidential vote can be called until the first two are done.

What Rubio Said About the Timetable

Rubio spoke to reporters in Paris, where foreign ministers of the Group of Seven (G7) wealthy democracies were meeting. “If things continue like this, we will have new Supreme Court justices in office by the middle of next month, in December,” he said.

“Afterwards, very quickly, the new Electoral Council will be created.” The Supreme Tribunal of Justice (TSJ) is Venezuela’s top court.

The National Electoral Council (CNE) runs elections and counts the votes. Rubio said negotiations over the new institutions continue this week.

“I think we are making good progress,” he said, adding that officials must stay on top of the process to meet the deadlines.

The Four Steps Between Now and a Vote

A senior State Department official described the roadmap on 26 October. It expects Delcy Rodríguez, who leads Venezuela’s government as acting president, to declare the presidency vacant once the new court and electoral council are in place.

That declaration, known as a “falta absoluta”, would open a window of up to six months to hold a presidential election. The new electoral council would then set the date, and Rubio has given none.

Machado and the Opposition Are Back

Rubio named three conditions for a credible vote: an independent court, a technical electoral body and a free press. He added that elections cannot be credible if candidates cannot reach voters.

María Corina Machado, the opposition leader who won the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize, returned to Venezuela on 25 October after nearly ten months abroad. Rubio said she and other opposition leaders have now been home for more than two weeks without being arrested, and called that “very good”.

Why Voters Abroad Are Part of the Plan

Rubio said roughly seven million Venezuelans live outside the country and need a way to vote. “We need open consulates in the United States so that those in the United States can vote,” he said, noting that Venezuela currently has none open there.

No date has been given for reopening them. For the large Venezuelan communities in Florida and Texas, that is the practical test of the whole plan.

What Prediction Markets Say

Polymarket, a prediction market, gives 35.0% that Venezuela schedules a presidential election by 31 March 2027, and 8.5% by 31 December 2026. More than US$676,000 has been traded on the question; prices are bets, not polls, and were read at 5:21 p.m. ET on 9 November 2026.

Why we show this: prediction markets turn real-money bets into a live probability that moves within minutes of the news, which is why investors, campaigns and newsrooms in the United States now follow them closely. We show them next to polls and official results, never instead of them.

What It Means for US Readers

The timetable is a Washington product, so a slip in December would be a visible test of US influence in Caracas. Oil investors and sanctions lawyers should watch the court appointments first, since the new justices will shape how business disputes and any sanctions relief are handled.

Venezuelan-Americans should watch the consulates. Without them, voting from the United States has no practical route.

What Is Not Known

The next test is the court: justices sworn in around 15 December would confirm the timetable, while a slip into January would push any vote later. Nobody has said who the new justices or electoral council members will be, or how they will be chosen. The mid-December date rests on Rubio’s own statement.

Venezuela’s government had not commented at the time of writing.

Frequently Asked Questions

When could Venezuela have a new Supreme Court?

Rubio said new justices could be in office by mid-December 2026 if things continue as planned. A new electoral council would follow very soon after.

When would Venezuela hold a presidential election?

No date is set. Under the roadmap, a vote would come within six months of a presidential vacancy declaration, which follows the installation of the new court and electoral council.

Sources: US State Department (Venezuela), state.gov; Consejo Nacional Electoral (CNE), cne.gob.ve; Rubio’s public remarks, 9 November 2026; Polymarket, 9 November 2026.