Marco Rubio Says Trump Administration Wants to Make Venezuela a 'Friendly, Stable, Prosperous and Democratic Country'
Secretary of State Marco Rubio told the US Senate on Wednesday that Venezuela's new leaders are moving toward closer ties with the United States, in his first public hearing before lawmakers since this month's US raid that captured President Nicolas Maduro.
President Donald Trump's administration is working with Maduro ally Delcy Rodríguez, who was installed as interim president after his arrest but has warned that further military action is possible if her government does not comply with Washington's demands.
Marco Rubio, a former Florida senator and member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told a crowded Senate chamber that the dialogue with Venezuelan leaders had been “very respectful and productive” and argued that Venezuela, a country with a history of good relations with the United States, was moving toward restoring ties with Washington. He also said that he is convinced that the US will be able to quickly open a diplomatic representation in this country.
“For the first time in 20 years, we are having serious discussions about diminishing and eliminating the Iranian presence, the Chinese influence and the Russian presence. I can tell you frankly that there are many elements in Venezuela that welcome a return to relations with the United States on many levels,” he said.
Marco Rubio is scheduled to meet with Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado later Wednesday at the State Department amid questions about the possibility of Donald Trump installing her as Venezuela's leader instead of Maduro.
Two weeks ago, Trump's fellow Republicans blocked at the border a resolution that would have prevented any further military action by the president in Venezuela without congressional authorization. The vote was decided by Vice President JD Vance, who had to break the tie.
Rubio told panel members that Maduro needed to be removed from power because Venezuela had become a base of operations for US adversaries, including China, Russia and Iran, and his alleged cooperation with drug traffickers was affecting the region and the US.
“It was an unsustainable situation and it needed to be addressed,” Rubio said.
The United States has set up a mechanism for the short-term sale of Venezuelan oil, but the goal is to facilitate a transition to “a friendly, stable and prosperous Venezuela” that ultimately chooses its leaders through free and fair elections, the secretary of state said.
Parliamentarians, frustrated by the lack of communication
Several members of Congress, both Republicans and Democrats, have expressed frustration with what they describe as a lack of communication from Trump administration officials about major operations, including Maduro's capture and the elimination of many congressionally supported foreign aid programs.
The chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, Republican Sen. Jim Risch of Idaho, praised Rubio for explaining to him the administration's plans for Venezuela, despite “confusion about how they will be implemented.”
The war powers resolution appeared likely to pass the Senate after five Republicans joined Democrats in voting to advance it, in a rare gesture of Republican opposition to Trump.
But Trump harshly attacked the five, saying they should never be elected to public office again. Both he and Rubio have made repeated appeals to senators to change their vote, insisting there are no US troops in Venezuela and offering various assurances, including Rubio's commitment to appear before the Senate committee. Two of those, Josh Hawley of Missouri and Todd Young of Indiana, later changed their positions.
The close vote reflected concerns in Congress over Trump's foreign policy and growing support for the idea that the legislature should regain the prerogative to decide whether to send US troops to war, as the Constitution provides.
Members of Congress, including some Republicans close to Trump, said Rubio had insisted, just days before U.S. troops removed Maduro, that the administration was not planning regime change in Venezuela, and that oil industry executives had been briefed on the operation before lawmakers.
Some Democrats have raised concerns that the United States could be drawn into another protracted war without consulting Congress. “You know as well as I do the long and painful history of wars that started, seemed resolved, and then turned into agonizing, costly conflicts that lasted for years,” said Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware.
This month, Trump said the US would administer Venezuela for years, told Iranians protesting their government that “help is on the way” and threatened military action to seize Greenland, a territory of NATO ally Denmark.
