Feb. 10 (UPI) -- Venezuela will not hold elections in the short term, National Assembly President Jorge Rodríguez said, amid growing political tension marked by the release of opposition leader Juan Pablo Guanipa, his abduction less than 12 hours later and his transfer to house arrest in the city of Maracaibo.
Jorge Rodríguez, brother of interim President Delcy Rodríguez, ruled out the possibility of immediate elections and said the country must first go through a process of "stabilization" after the capture of President Nicolás Maduro by the United States.
"The only thing I can say is that there will be no elections in this immediate period in which stabilization must be achieved," Jorge Rodriguez said in an interview with the Newsmax network Saturday that was broadcast Monday.
President of the National Assembly, he said said the interim government is working on what he called the "re-institutionalization of the country," with the goal that all institutions "regain their full functioning and recognition by all."
In that context, he said authorities will move toward "a timeline that works for everyone and that guarantees not only the winners, but also the losers, that all guarantees will be safeguarded."
