Rubio Tells Senators the U.S. Does Not Expect More Military Action in Venezuela

Secretary of State Marco Rubio told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday that the United States is “not postured to, nor do we intend or expect to have to take any military action in Venezuela at any time.” It was his first congressional testimony since U.S. forces seized Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro on Jan. 3, CBS News reported.

“The only military presence you will see in Venezuela is our Marine guards at an embassy,” Rubio said, though the United States has no operating embassy there now, CBS noted. His prepared remarks said the U.S. is “prepared to use force to ensure maximum cooperation if other methods fail,” a line Fox News reported he did not read aloud. He said the president reserves the option to act in self-defense against a threat, though “we don’t anticipate that.”

Republican senators were largely supportive. Rubio said he had assured GOP Sens. Josh Hawley and Todd Young that the administration “will not put ground troops in Venezuela,” and CBS reported both backed off a war powers measure after those assurances. Chairman Jim Risch said Venezuela “may require” U.S. and international oversight of its elections. Sen. Rick Scott pressed on the goal, and Rubio answered that “we want a Venezuela that has legitimate democratic elections.”

Democrats challenged the legality and the lack of notice. Sen. Chris Coons asked why Congress was not consulted, noting that senior officials had said military action to remove Maduro was not on the table. “If there was time to practice, there was time to consult,” he said, according to Fox News. Rubio cited the risk of leaks and said the mission was “trigger-based” and not possible until late December. “It may never have happened,” he said. Coons replied that the congressional “Gang of Eight” has never leaked, CBS reported. Even Republican Sen. John Curtis said the administration “could get Congress to be a better partner.”

Asked by Sen. Tammy Duckworth whether the country is at war with Venezuela, Rubio said “we’re not in a state of war in Venezuela,” though he described gangs as confronting the United States “in a war-like setting,” CBS reported. Fox News reported that sustained U.S. involvement would mean notifying Congress within 48 hours and seeking congressional approval after 60 days.

On Venezuela’s future, Rubio said he could not give a timeline. “We’re not going to get there in three weeks, it’s going to take some time,” he said, and the transition “is not linear,” CBS reported. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat, said “in the process we’ve traded one dictator for another,” a reference to the administration’s decision to work with acting president Delcy Rodríguez, Maduro’s former vice president. Rubio said the interim government is expected to give U.S. companies “preferential access” to oil production and to end oil shipments to Cuba, CBS reported.

France 24, citing AFP, reported that the United States had begun unblocking Venezuelan funds held under sanctions; Rodríguez said on Tuesday that the money would buy hospital equipment, and she did not give an amount. Rubio told Sen. Jeff Merkley the administration is “not spending money in Venezuela right now,” CBS said.

The hearing also touched other fronts. Rubio said Trump “was not going to use force or military force in Greenland,” and that 30,000 to 40,000 U.S. troops in the Middle East are within reach of Iranian drones and missiles, making it “wise and prudent” to keep forces positioned there, CBS reported.