U.S. Secretary of State, National Security Adviser, Acting Records Administration and last USAID administrator Rubio played a key role in organizing the U.S. special operation to overthrow Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, officials said.
But in the absence of a successor to govern Venezuela, which has a population of about 29 million, US President Donald Trump is leaning on Rubio to help “gover” the country, distribute its oil assets and help form a new government, the media said.
Rubio, whose parents fled Cuba in the 1950s, has been an outspoken critic of Maduro and campaigner for change in Venezuela for more than a decade. The problems of the Caribbean region are deeply personal for him, WP noted.
U.S. officials say Rubio will play a larger role in shaping U.S. policy as the Trump administration tries to stabilize Venezuela.
His knowledge of Spanish and familiarity with Latin American leaders and the Venezuelan opposition make Rubio a natural focal point for Trump, another senior US official said. However, he stressed that the Trump administration will need to appoint a special permanent envoy to assist Rubio, given the scale of the challenges in Venezuela.
Maduro's capture represents a bureaucratic victory for Rubio in the Trump administration, where there are staunch opponents of regime change, in particular US Vice President J.D. Vance, WP pointed out.
The media recalled that even before joining the State Department, Rubio had repeatedly made it clear that he supported the use of US military force to overthrow Maduro, saying that there was a “weighty argument” for this.
At a news conference Saturday, Rubio made it clear that Cuba could also face similar U.S. actions.
Who exactly rules Venezuela now remains unclear, writes WP. According to diplomats, by leaving Delcy Rodriguez as vice president, the Trump administration may be trying to avoid the Iraq scenario, where government agencies and the army were almost completely disbanded, which became a “catastrophe.”
