Venezuela will hold elections organized by an overhauled electoral regulator and witnessed by the international community, acting President Delcy Rodríguez said in a rare televised address Thursday, as pressure builds on her interim government after the return of opposition leader María Corina Machado.

Rodríguez stopped short of setting an election date and said the vote shouldn’t become a source of renewed political confrontation.

“There will be elections, all those mandated by our constitution, organized by a renewed electoral authority and with the world as witness,” Rodríguez said. The address came shortly before Machado was due to make her first public remarks since returning to Venezuela on Sunday.

Machado’s comeback has added urgency to the question of when Venezuelans will return to the polls nearly 11 months after the US removed Nicolás Maduro and threw its support behind Rodríguez, his former vice president.

Rodríguez’s electoral pledge comes days after Washington laid out its clearest roadmap yet for a new presidential vote. The US plan calls for a new Supreme Court to be installed by mid-December, followed by a revamped National Electoral Council. A vacancy in the presidency would then be declared, triggering a six-month period for holding an election, according to a senior State Department official.

In her address, Rodríguez highlighted the opening of Venezuela’s economy, noting ongoing talks for 44 oil agreements, on top of 61 contracts with both local and international investors, in addition to “important” mining deals.

She also announced a series of measures aimed at loosening the state’s control over the economy. Non-essential state assets are being valued and could be offered to private investors or returned to their former owners, she said, adding that private property is protected by Venezuela’s constitution.

The measure could potentially unwind some of the state takeovers carried out during more than two decades of socialist rule, although Rodríguez didn’t identify which assets or companies are under consideration.

She said workers’ incomes will be increased four times in 2027, with each adjustment no smaller than the economic growth recorded in the preceding quarter.

Striking a conciliatory tone compared with her fiery persona of the past, Rodríguez said she had instructed security forces not to detain anyone without a court order, except when someone is caught committing a crime. She said peaceful protest is a constitutional right and that Venezuelans should be able to hold different political views without fear of retaliation.