Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in interviews on Sunday that it is „premature“ to discuss elections in Venezuela because higher priorities, including the country’s oil industry, must be addressed first.
Jan. 4 Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in interviews on Sunday that it is „premature“ to discuss elections in Venezuela because higher priorities, including reinvigorating the country’s oil industry, must be addressed first.
In interviews with ABC, CBS and NBC, Rubio said that the United States will continue to strike drug boats and detain oil tankers as the Trump administration moves to stabilize and „run“ Venezuela after the apprehension of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Saturday.
The Trump administration plans to keep its „quarantine“ of Venezuelan oil in place as it pressures the remainders of Maduro’s government to end their cooperation with South American drug gangs, as well as stop selling oil to the United States‘ adversaries, Rubio said.
„As we move forward here, we’ll set the conditions so that we no longer have in our hemisphere a Venezuela that’s the crossroads for many of our adversaries around the world, including Iran and Hezbollah“, Rubio said on ABC News‘ „This Week.“
Rubio added that Venezuela would also no longer be „a narcotrafficking paradise for all those drugs coming out of Colombia . and toward the United States.“
Offshore armada is ‚leverage‘
In a press conference on Saturday, Trump told reporters that there was a second strike planned in the case that Venezuelan forces responded to Maduro’s capture or the plan was not successful, but U.
