Following Saturday’s US military operation that resulted in the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has outlined a three‑phase strategy for Venezuela focused on stabilising the country, guiding its economic recovery, and supporting a political transition.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, he said the first phase will involve selling sanctioned oil and directing the revenue toward restoring order in Venezuela.
“Step one is the stabilisation of the country. We don’t want it descending into chaos. Part of that stabilisation and the reason why we understand and believe that we have the strongest leverage possible is our quarantine. As you’ve seen today, two more ships were seized. We are in the midst right now and in fact about to execute on a deal to take all the oil. They have oil that is stuck in Venezuela. They can’t move it because of our quarantine and because it’s sanctioned. We are going to take between 30 and 50 million barrels of oil. We’re going to sell it in the marketplace at market rates, not at the discounts Venezuela was getting. That money will then be handled in such a way that we will control how it is dispersed in a way that benefits the Venezuelan people, not corruption, not the regime. So we have a lot of leverage to move on the stabilisation front.”
Secretary Rubio explained that the second and third phases will focus on recovery and laying the groundwork for political transition.
“That is ensuring that American, Western and other companies have access to the Venezuelan market in a way that’s fair. Also, at the same time, begin to create the process of reconciliation nationally within Venezuela so that the opposition forces can be amnestied and released from prisons or brought back to the country and begin to rebuild civil society. And then the third phase, of course, will be one of transition.”