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Stabilisation, recovery and transition: After oil deal, Marco Rubio details US' plan for Venezuela
Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores were captured and taken to the US, where they have been tried on charges of narco-terrorism, drug trafficking and more.
Nearly a week after the United States carried out military strikes in Venezuela and captured the country's sitting president Nicolás Maduro, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth have shared a detailed plan for the Latin American country.
After briefing lawmakers on the US' next steps for Venezuela, the two officials have laid out a three-fold plan which aims to bring "stabilisation" for the country.
What is the three-fold plan presented by the US?
Speaking to reporters, Rubio has stated that the process will focus on "stabilisation," "recovery," and "transition" for Venezuela.
Phase one - Stabilisation and quarantine
As per the top US diplomat, the first phase of the plan will focus on stabilising the country and its economy. This would include selling sanctioned oil and distributing the profits.
"We don't want it descending into chaos. Part of that stabilisation and the reason why we understand and believe that we have the strongest leverage possible is our quarantine," said Rubio.
Elaborating on the phase, Rubio said the US will be seizing more oil, which is "stuck" in Venezuela.
"Two more ships were seized today. We are in the midst right now and about to execute on a deal to take all the oil - they have oil that is stuck in Venezuela. They can't move it because of our quarantine and because it's sanctioned," said Rubio.
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On Tuesday (local time), US President Donald Trump announced a oil deal with Caracas, in which the US will be taking between 30 to 50 million barrels of oil and selling it at market prices.
Echoing the oil deal, Rubio said: "We are going to sell it in the market place at market rates, not at the discounts Venezuela was getting. That money will then be handled in such a way that we will control how it is dispersed in a way that benefits the Venezuelan people."
Phase two - Recovery
In this phase, Rubio and Hegseth stated that the Venezuelan oil market will be opened, extending access to other countries.
Along with this, Rubio added that the US will be working with the government under interim president Delcy Rodriguez to begin the first steps of transition.
"American, western and other companies will have access to the Venezuelan market oil that is fair, also at the same time, we begin to create the process of reconciliation nationally within Venezuela so that the Opposition forces can be released from prisons or brought back to the country, and we begin to rebuild civil society," said Rubio.
Phase three - Transition
While speaking to reporters, Rubio did not elaborate on the third phase. However, it is assumed that this will refer to the elections in Venezuela, which have been called for by the opposition led Nobel peace prize winner Maria Machado.
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“Some of this will overlap. I’ve described this to them in great detail. We’ll have more detail in the days to follow. But we feel like we’re moving forward here in a very positive way,” Rubio added.
US military raid in Venezuela heightens tensions
On January 3, US forces carried out strikes and a raid in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas. During this raid, at least a 100 people were killed and Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores were captured.
The duo was taken to the US and have been tried in New York on charges of narco-terrorism and drug trafficking. In their first hearing on Monday, both Maduro and Flores have denied the charges against them.
Following Venezuela, tensions between Washington and other Latin American countries have escalated. These heightened after Trump threatened to take action in Colombia, Mexico and Cuba. Furthermore, the US president has also renewed his interest in US' purchase of Greenland.
