WASHINGTON, D.C. — Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Venezuelan opposition leader Dinorah Figuera at the State Department on Friday, pledging the Trump administration’s backing for the negotiations over a political transition in Venezuela days before the next round of talks.

“This effort has our support, the support of the highest levels of the U.S. government,” Rubio told reporters, calling the process “difficult” but saying he expects it to keep producing results.

The meeting in the department’s Treaty Room was the first formal one between the two, and Rubio later called it “productive” in a post on X.

Rubio framed the goal as more than a vote. He said the aim is “a democracy, a republic that can govern the country and that exists permanently,” and that the outcome must include free and democratic elections. He gave no timeline for them.