Rubio says Trump-Rodriguez meeting was ‘short’ but ‘important’

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday that President Donald Trump’s meeting with Venezuela’s Acting President Delcy Rodriguez on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly was “short” but “important.”

Trump held talks with Rodriguez at the General Assembly, marking their first face-to-face meeting since the White House backed her to take over the South American country’s government.

“It was a short meeting, but it was an important meeting,” Rubio told reporters in New York.

He said the talks focused on steps needed to address Venezuela’s economic crisis, restructure its debt and advance a political transition aimed at holding free and fair elections.

Rubio said Venezuela faced “a lot of problems,” including the legacy of economic mismanagement and corruption, while millions of Venezuelans living abroad could potentially contribute to rebuilding the country.

He said Washington wanted to see both economic stabilization and the rebuilding of institutions needed for credible elections.

“What we don’t want to see … would be that someone is elected, and they inherit a complete catastrophe, economic and social,” Rubio said.

On Cuba, Rubio said Havana’s leadership must undertake significant political and economic changes if the country is to improve.

“The Cuban revolution has failed,” he said, arguing that the country had an opportunity to move toward “political and economic freedom.”

Rubio added that Washington preferred political and negotiated solutions over military force.

“But the reality of the situation is things are not going to get better in Cuba without them making very substantial changes,” he said.

He said the US was prepared to support a transition if Cuban authorities were willing to pursue reforms.