The goal of the approach is to shift Venezuela’s political and economic direction and put pressure on the country’s current leaders until clear improvements are seen.
U.S. troops will keep stopping oil tankers on a U.S. sanctions list from coming in and out of the nation and will keep going after drug boats if they try to get to the U.S.
Marco Rubio, the US Secretary of State, said on Sunday that the US military would continue to enforce a “quarantine” around Venezuela to keep oil tankers that are subject to US sanctions from entering or leaving the country. This was in response to questions about how the US would deal with Venezuela’s leadership after Maduro.
He stated that the effort is meant to put what the Trump administration calls “leverage” on Venezuela’s present leaders after they caught Maduro.
In a number of interviews, Secretary of State Marco Rubio indicated that the US had put what he called a “oil quarantine” in place, which is maintained by sanctions and naval strength.
Rubio called the strategy “a huge amount of leverage” to push for changes in Caracas.
He also talked about what Washington wants from Venezuela’s new leaders after Maduro. He said that the government needs to stop drug trafficking and undertake all kinds of adjustments, both short-term and long-term.
On Sunday, Rubio talked more about the administration’s plan to use the “oil quarantine” pressure weapon, together with a significant US naval deployment, to bring about change in Venezuela.
Mr. Rubio told CBS that the U.S. naval force that Trump sent out over the past few months—”one of the largest naval deployments in modern history, certainly in the Western Hemisphere”—is able to stop not only drug boats but also any of these sanctioned boats that come in and out, which would stop that part of the regime’s revenue generation.
He said, “There’s a quarantine right now.” “Sanctioned oil shipments—there’s a boat, and that boat is under US sanctions. We’ll get a court order and take it.” He said the pressure would stay on until Washington makes real adjustments. Rubio told Margaret Brennan of CBS’s “Face the Nation,” “That stays in place, and that’s a huge amount of leverage that will stay in place until we see changes that not only benefit the United States’ national interest, which is number one, but also lead to a better future for the people of Venezuela.”
The US secretary of state talked a lot about Washington’s power, but not much on the short-term political plan for Venezuela.
His statements show that the US is being careful and doesn’t want to set specific goals until it sees real changes in Venezuela’s democratic system.
Rubio kept saying that Venezuela’s oil industry was the key to any economic recovery.
He told CBS, “None of the money from the oil gets to the people.”
As Venezuela deals with the uncertain aftermath of Maduro’s resignation, Rubio’s statements show how important oil will be to the country’s economic recovery.
The oil isolation is Washington’s main tool for now. It shows that Venezuela’s return to the global energy markets will depend less on words and more on real changes.
Rubio was on ABC’s “This Week” with anchor George Stephanopoulos on Sunday to talk about what had happened since Maduro was caught.
Rubio said during the interview that there is a “quarantine” in place until the conditions that are best for both the US and Venezuelan people are met.
He said, “If you are a sanctioned boat and you are going to Venezuela, we will seize you on the way in or on the way out with a court order that we get from judges in the United States.”
