US Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressed hope for cooperation with Venezuela after the US toppling of Nicolas Maduro. Photo / Saul Loeb, AFP
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressed hope for cooperation with Venezuela after the US toppling of Nicolas Maduro. Photo / Saul Loeb, AFP
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has voiced hope for co-operation with Venezuela after the US toppling of Nicolas Maduro, and expected a reopening soon of the US embassy there, but brandished force if the interim leader is defiant.
In prepared testimony for a Senate hearing, Rubio had written thatDelcy Rodriguez, who was vice president and now acting president, “is well aware of the fate of Maduro”.
“Make no mistake, as the President has stated, we are prepared to use force to ensure maximum co-operation if other methods fail,” read the prepared testimony, referring to President Donald Trump.
Asked about his prepared testimony during his appearance, Rubio took a more measured tone.
“I can tell you right now with full certainty we are not postured to, nor do we intend or expect to, have to take any military action in Venezuela,” Rubio told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
“The only military presence you’ll see in Venezuela is our Marine guards at an embassy,” he said.
Trump has demanded that Venezuela, which has the world’s largest proven oil reserves, co-operate with US oil companies.
The State Department last week named a senior diplomat, Laura Dogu, as top diplomat for Venezuela, and earlier sent a mission to assess the embassy in Caracas.
“We think very quickly we’ll be able to open a US diplomatic presence on the ground,” Rubio told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
The restored US mission “will allow us to have real-time information” and improve interaction with Venezuelan authorities as well as “members of civil society, the opposition”, Rubio said.
The United States shuttered its embassy in 2019 shortly after Washington and other major powers declared Maduro to be illegitimate following an election marred by reports of irregularities.
‘Tactical and temporary’
US commandos raided Caracas on January 3 and seized Maduro, a longtime leftist nemesis of Washington, and his wife, Cilia Flores.
The couple were flown to New York to stand trial on US-issued charges of drug trafficking, which they deny.
US commandos seized Maduro, who faces drug trafficking charges in New York, which he denies. Photo / Getty Images
Senator Jeanne Shaheen, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said that the operation has cost at least hundreds of millions of dollars “and yet the Maduro regime is essentially still in power”.
“Her cooperation appears tactical and temporary, and not a real shift in Venezuela’s alignment. In the process, we’ve traded one dictator for another,” Shaheen said.
Senator Chris Van Hollen, another Democrat, pointed to Trump’s meetings with oil executives and questioned if he ordered the attack for personal benefit.
“By any measure, this is the most corrupt administration in American history,” he said.
Venezuelan officials say more than 100 people died, both Venezuelans and Cubans, who unsuccessfully tried to protect Maduro.
Rubio, a Cuban-American and fervent critic of Latin American leftists, as a senator had championed Venezuela’s democratic opposition.
But Trump indicated hours after deposing Maduro that he favoured getting his way by pressuring Rodriguez rather than seeking to empower the opposition, dismissing its leader Maria Corina Machado as a “very nice woman” who did not command “respect”.
Trump sounded more favourable to Machado after she visited him at the White House and gave him her Nobel Peace Prize, which she won last year despite Trump loudly coveting the prestigious honour.
Rubio later Wednesday met at the State Department with Machado, who said that Rodriguez remained part of a state apparatus that has used violence and forced millions of Venezuelans to flee.
“I think no one has faith in Delcy Rodriguez,” Machado told reporters after the meeting.
“This is state terrorism and she’s an essential part of it.”
Rubio, facing critical questions from senators, insisted that the United States wanted democratic elections in Venezuela but offered no timetable, other than to say that “we need to be much further along” within three months.
“That’s the end state that we want – a free, fair, prosperous and friendly Venezuela. We’re not going get there in three weeks.”
