The Trump administration’s hopes for Venezuela’s future are crystallizing, nearly eleven months after Washington intervened to topple the South American country’s socialist government.
In January, President Donald Trump authorized the arrest of former Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro by U.S. military forces, setting up Secretary of State Marco Rubio to begin drawing up plans for the country’s transition to a democracy.
On Sunday, Rubio credited Washington’s ongoing “reconciliation” talks with Venezuelan authorities, pushing for democratic reform, with the recent safe return of Maria Corina Machado, who has long been recognized as the main counterweight to Maduro, to the country, months after she was forced to flee into political exile.
The following day, the State Department said it hopes to see essential progress by the end of the year in establishing democratic elections, including the establishment of a new Supreme Court and National Electoral Council by mid-December. Venezuela’s current electoral machinery is rigged by design, necessitating its reform before a new presidential vote can be held, according to the administration.
“We have timelines that are agreed to, and so far they’ve met every one of the timelines,” Rubio said, noting the leverage the U.S. holds over Venezuelan acting President Delcy Rodriguez in the form of sanctions and the licenses permitting Venezuelan economic activity.
“To the extent they’re able to do business and operate today, it is because we are issuing waivers or general licenses that are allowing certain economic activities to happen,” Rubio added. “The United States has significant influence over the direction that these talks go and the results that we get from them.”
The Trump administration is currently managing the Venezuelan oil industry, saying it is seeking to return it to private sector ownership after years of spoil under corrupt state management. Trump on Tuesday is expected to show off a newly arrived oil tanker filled with Venezuelan crude to be processed in Texas refineries as he campaigns for GOP candidates down the ballot in Port Arthur, according to ABC News, while Rubio said Monday the U.S. intervention is aimed at restoring Venezuela’s economy and taking back power from the “kleptocracy.”
“Because of the U.S. Government’s involvement, it now allows the company that we partnered with to go out and make massive capital investments to increase the productive capacity,” Rubio said. “Understand that because of sanctions and corruption, there’s been very little investment in capital, in the infrastructure of their energy sector. So they’re underproducing, and a lot of this – they didn’t invest anything in capital. Right, the kleptocracy just stole all the money from it but didn’t really invest anything back in the business.”
“The fact that they’re in business with us, the fact that they are now partnered with the United States, gives the certainty they need, and they’ve already started doing it, to go out and make massive investments in capital – which they’re doing,” he continued. “It’s created the market confidence that they can now go out and raise the money to bring in the capital investment to increase the productive capacity of Venezuela.”
Rubio said the U.S. had also intervened to ensure that Machado was allowed to return to Venezuela, after she was repeatedly thwarted from entering her country. At the same time, he warned against attempts to “street-protest your way into democracy,” touting the fragile talks the U.S. is holding with Venezuelan authorities as the best path to long-lasting reforms.
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“The way you do it peacefully is through a process, and it’s the one we’ve set up,” Rubio said. “So from our point of view, whether — this is the only process, it’s the only game in town.”
“My interest here is ensuring that Venezuela can have a functioning republic with a system of laws where there’s an opposition, but there’s also a majority party,” he said. “I want all that to happen without civil war. I want all that to happen without getting back into an endless cycle of sanctions and threats and back-and-forth. And we’re trying to give that process a chance to work, and this is the closest we’ve ever been.”