Rubio tells senators U.S. plan for Venezuela is still in ‘infancy’

Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended the U.S. ouster of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and detailed the White House strategy moving forward in testimony on Wednesday before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Rubio’s long-awaited testimony came almost four weeks after the U.S. military carried out large-scale strikes in Caracas and captured Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, on Jan. 3. Maduro and Flores are being held in New York, where they await trial for federal drug trafficking charges.

“This thing still is in its infancy, but I certainly think a lot of progress has been made in that regard,” Rubio said of restoring diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Venezuela.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have raised questions about Washington’s long-term strategy in Venezuela and expressed concern that the operation violated Congress’ constitutionally mandated war powers.

In his opening remarks, Rubio disputed claims that Venezuela is under U.S. military occupation. “There is no war against Venezuela, and we did not occupy a country,” he said. “There are no U.S. troops on the ground.”

But Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., later pressed Rubio on the legal basis of the military operation. “So I would ask you if a foreign country bombed our air defense missiles, captured and removed our president and blockaded our country, would that be considered an act of war?” Paul asked.

War power resolutions designed to block President Donald Trump from putting U.S. boots on the ground in Venezuela have narrowly failed to pass both the House and the Senate in recent weeks.

Referring to Venezuela’s interim president, Delcy Rodríguez, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., the top Democrat on the committee, said, “Our president continues to threaten Delcy Rodríguez and the remnant of the Maduro regime with military force if they don’t comply. We should know what are the policies, what is the path, what is the plan forward?”

Rodríguez, Maduro’s vice president, was sworn in as the country’s interim president after Trump expressed doubt that Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado had enough support to fill the country’s nascent power vacuum.

“I can tell you right now with full certainty, we are not postured to, nor do we intend or expect to have to take any military action in Venezuela at any time,” Rubio said, adding that Trump has not ruled out the option but that the “goal” is to prevent the use of military force in the country.

The State Department notified Congress on Monday that it is taking steps toward reopening the U.S. Embassy in Venezuela, saying in a letter that it will take a “phased approach” to “potentially resume Embassy Caracas operations.” The U.S. has not had an embassy in Venezuela since 2019, when diplomatic ties were severed over safety concerns. Rubio said Wednesday the only planned military presence in the country would be “our marine guards at an embassy.”

Rubio was slated to meet with Machado at the State Department immediately after his testimony Wednesday.

Earlier this month, Machado visited the White House and met with Trump and gave him her Nobel Peace Prize medal. She also said her country is “definitely now into the first steps of a true transition to democracy.” Machado then met with the senators on the Foreign Relations Committee who questioned Rubio on Wednesday.

Rubio said the U.S. plans to help Venezuela transition from a “criminal state” to an international power, adding that officials are keeping close tabs on Rodríguez after she pledged to open Venezuela’s oil infrastructure to American companies, a key Trump demand.

Trump has urged nearly 20 American oil executives to invest a combined $100 billion in rebuilding Venezuela’s decrepit energy infrastructure, presenting the plan as a way to drive down global oil prices and ease costs for American consumers. But oil industry leaders have expressed skepticism about pouring substantial capital into Venezuela, where profitability and long-term government stability remain uncertain.