Venezuela's acting president promised the UN a path to 'full democracy.' Reuters sources say a vote may be a year or more away.

Here is the situation as of Saturday. Reuters reports, via The Star, that Venezuela's long-awaited election may not happen for a year or more, despite Acting President Delcy Rodriguez's promise of a transition to "full democracy." Rodriguez, who took power after a U.S. raid captured then-President Nicolas Maduro in January, told the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday that state institutions were preparing for elections and that her government had opened talks with the opposition, but she gave no timetable. Five political sources and analysts told Reuters major obstacles remain, and two said an election is unlikely before the end of next year. The first hurdle is the planned replacement of all 32 Supreme Court judges and the five directors of the National Electoral Council, bodies critics have long said lack independence. After that come updated voter rolls and basic decisions such as whether voting will be manual or electronic, said Oswaldo Martinez of the Caracas consultancy ORC. Washington's priorities add another brake. "What would threaten an enduring republic in Venezuela would be that someone is elected and they inherit a complete catastrophe, economic and social, and then the whole project is endangered," Secretary of State Marco Rubio said this week. Last month President Trump announced a push to take control of a fifth of Venezuela's oil reserves, and Eurasia Group's Risa Grais-Targow said the administration is "prioritizing economic stability and oil-related deals under Delcy, with little apparent urgency to move toward a fresh vote." Exiled opposition leader Maria Corina Machado has been absent from the talks. Assessment: after Franco died in 1975, Spain's transition was run by insiders of the old order, yet Spaniards voted freely within two years because a timetable was set and kept. Stability is a worthy goal. Without a date, it becomes the destination instead of the road.