Rubio Defends Maduro Strike as US-Venezuela Relations Move Forward

World News

-Oneindia Staff

Marco
Rubio
defended
President
Donald
Trump’s
military
strike
against
former
Venezuelan
President
Nicolas
Maduro,
telling
US
lawmakers
the
operation
made
the
United
States
safer
and
helped
reshape
US-Venezuela
relations,
even
as
sceptical
Democrats
questioned
the
strategy,
its
costs,
and
its
wider
impact
on
NATO,
China,
Russia,
Iran
and
domestic
priorities.

During
a
Senate
Foreign
Relations
Committee
hearing,
the
Secretary
of
State
faced
sharp
questions
over
why
Trump
concentrated
on
Venezuela
while
US
citizens
confronted
rising
living
costs.
Senator
Jeanne
Shaheen
argued
that
many
senior
Maduro
aides
remained
influential,
and
raised
concerns
about
whether
the
intervention
was
worth
the
financial
and
political
risks
taken
by
the
United
States.

Committee
chairman
Senator
Jim
Risch
of
Idaho
described
the
Venezuelan
operation
as
limited
in
size
and
duration,
stating
it
involved
“only
about
200
troops” and
lasted
under
27
minutes.
Risch
said
the
strike
was
tightly
focused
and
achieved
its
immediate
goal,
while
Rubio
stressed
that
the
broader
effort
to
stabilise
Venezuela
would
take
time
and
close
cooperation
with
interim
authorities.

Rubio
told
senators
that
Washington
now
intends
to
work
closely
with
Venezuela’s
interim
leadership
to
restore
basic
services
and
strengthen
US-Venezuela
relations.
“We’re
not
going
to
have
this
thing
turn
around
overnight,
but
I
think
we’re
making
good
and
decent
progress,” Rubio
said,
adding
that
current
Venezuelan
leaders
are
engaging
with
US
officials
and
are
expected
to
gain
from
the
new
arrangements.

Under
the
revised
sanctions
approach,
Venezuela
will
again
be
allowed
to
sell
oil
that
was
previously
blocked
by
US
restrictions.
Revenue
from
those
sales
will
fund
core
state
needs,
including
policing
and
healthcare
programmes.
The
money
will
be
held
in
a
US
Treasury-controlled
account,
and
monthly
spending
plans
will
require
US
approval
before
funds
are
released.

Senator
Jeanne
Shaheen
questioned
whether
the
Venezuelan
operation
justified
the
expense,
given
the
continuing
economic
hardship
inside
the
country
and
the
survival
of
many
Maduro-era
officials
in
powerful
posts.
Shaheen
also
pressed
Rubio
on
why
Trump
appeared
to
prioritise
Venezuela
over
domestic
challenges
such
as
wages,
inflation
and
the
overall
cost
of
living
facing
US
households.

Shaheen
summed
up
Democratic
unease
by
warning
that
“From
Venezuela
to
Europe,
the
United
States
is
spending
more,
risking
more
and
achieving
less,”
arguing
that
the
administration
risked
overextending
US
commitments.
Rubio
responded
that
Washington’s
aim
remained
support
for
democratic
institutions
in
Venezuela,
not
simply
access
to
oil
or
pursuit
of
narrow
security
interests.

US-Venezuela
relations,
NATO
debates
and
Greenland
concerns

Lawmakers
also
examined
how
the
Venezuela
decision
fit
into
broader
foreign
policy
disputes
involving
NATO
and
Greenland.
Rubio
rejected
claims
that
Trump’s
approach
weakened
the
Atlantic
alliance,
instead
repeating
the
administration’s
call
for
higher
defence
spending
by
European
partners.
“NATO
needs
to
be
reimagined,”
Rubio
said,
adding,
“I
just
think
this
president
complains
about
it
louder
than
other
presidents.”

Rubio
played
down
anxiety
inside
NATO
about
Trump’s
public
interest
in
acquiring
Greenland
from
Denmark,
saying
discussions
continued
among
allies.
According
to
Rubio,
Trump
believes
US
security
would
benefit
from
greater
strategic
presence
there,
especially
against
activity
by
Russia
and
China
in
the
Arctic
region,
yet
the
president
recently
stepped
back
from
imposing
tariffs
on
European
countries
that
had
supported
Denmark.

US-Venezuela
relations,
China,
Taiwan
and
global
calculations

Questioned
about
how
events
in
Venezuela
might
affect
China’s
long-term
plans,
Rubio
argued
that
Beijing’s
objective
regarding
Taiwan
is
driven
by
internal
priorities
rather
than
US
moves
in
Latin
America.
“The
situation
on
Taiwan
is
a
legacy
project
that
Chinese
President
Xi
Jinping
has
made
very
clear
that
that’s
what
he
intends
to
do,”
Rubio
said,
stressing
that
Chinese
decisions
on
Taiwan
would
not
change
because
of
the
Maduro
operation.

Democratic
senators
probed
whether
operations
like
the
one
in
Venezuela
could
influence
how
China
and
Russia
assess
US
resolve
and
global
reach.
Rubio
answered
that
Washington
must
manage
several
challenges
at
once,
including
US-Venezuela
relations,
tensions
in
the
Indo-Pacific,
and
Europe’s
security,
and
said
the
administration
weighed
those
factors
when
considering
military
or
diplomatic
steps.

US-Venezuela
relations,
Iranian
threats
and
Middle
East
deployments

As
Trump
again
warned
Iran
about
possible
military
action,
senators
pressed
Rubio
on
whether
another
strike
was
being
prepared.
Rubio
replied
that
there
were
no
current
plans
for
an
attack,
but
cautioned
that
any
attempt
to
change
Tehran’s
leadership
would
demand
“a
lot
of
careful
thinking”
because
Iran’s
political
structure
was
far
more
complex
than
Maduro’s
system
in
Venezuela.

The
Secretary
of
State
explained
that
Washington’s
recent
build-up
in
the
Middle
East,
including
the
arrival
of
an
aircraft
carrier
and
several
warships,
aimed
to
deter
potential
Iranian
moves
against
US
personnel
and
positions.
He
linked
these
deployments
to
a
broader
strategy
of
signalling
resolve
without
automatically
repeating
the
type
of
operation
used
in
Venezuela.

US-Venezuela
relations,
diplomatic
presence
and
future
ties

Rubio
outlined
plans
to
send
more
US
diplomats
to
Caracas
as
part
of
a
gradual
rebuilding
of
US-Venezuela
relations.
The
State
Department
hopes
this
step
will
support
eventual
reopening
of
the
US
Embassy,
which
closed
in
2019.
Full
normalisation,
however,
would
require
Washington
to
withdraw
its
recognition
of
Venezuela’s
2015
parliament
as
the
country’s
legitimate
legislature.

Senator
Cory
Booker
challenged
Rubio
about
working
with
interim
figures
who
had
previously
served
under
Maduro.
Rubio
said
the
United
States
expected
extensive
changes,
including
opening
Venezuela’s
energy
sector
to
US
companies
and
halting
subsidised
oil
shipments
to
Cuba.
According
to
Rubio,
the
Venezuelan
government
has
now
created
direct
channels
with
Washington
and
appears
to
follow
Trump’s
conditions
by
freeing
prisoners
detained
under
Maduro.

US-Venezuela
relations
in
the
context
of
wider
foreign
policy

Throughout
the
hearing,
Republican
senators
largely
backed
Trump’s
decision
on
Maduro
and
praised
the
operation’s
limited
scope,
while
Democrats
remained
doubtful
about
long-term
gains
and
the
overall
foreign
policy
direction.
Rubio
tried
to
link
US-Venezuela
relations
with
a
broader
effort
to
adjust
alliances,
confront
Iran,
and
respond
to
competition
from
China
and
Russia,
arguing
that
the
administration
sought
to
balance
these
overlapping
pressures
without
abandoning
existing
commitments.

The
discussion
closed
with
acknowledgement
that
the
Venezuelan
situation,
NATO
burden-sharing
disputes,
questions
over
Greenland,
Iranian
tensions,
and
China’s
ambitions
over
Taiwan
would
continue
to
test
US
diplomacy.
Rubio
maintained
that
the
administration
viewed
the
Venezuela
operation
as
a
contained
success,
while
senators
from
both
parties
signalled
that
they
would
keep
scrutinising
how
such
actions
fit
within
wider
US
interests
and
resources.