Rubio says the United States does not need Venezuelan oil, but seeks to prevent its adversaries from taking control of it – and does not rule out occupying the country.

President Donald Trump touted U.S. access to Venezuelan oil after ousting Nicolas Maduro, but Secretary of State Marco Rubio emphasized other foreign policy priorities.

Trump said U.S. oil companies would invest billions of dollars to rebuild the country’s energy infrastructure after years of mismanagement that reduced production, even though Venezuela has the world’s largest proven oil reserves.

“We are going to be present in Venezuela in the oil sector,” he told reporters on Saturday. “We are going to extract an enormous amount of wealth from the ground. »

In a interview Sunday on NBC Meet the Press with Kristen WelkerRubio was asked why the United States should take over Venezuela’s oil industry.

“We don’t need Venezuela’s oil. We have plenty of it in the United States. What we are not going to allow is Venezuela’s oil industry to be controlled by adversaries of the United States,” he responded, naming Russia, China and Iran.

“This is the Western Hemisphere. This is where we live. And we are not going to allow the Western Hemisphere to be a base of operations for the adversaries, competitors and rivals of the United States, simple as that.”

Rubio also said the United States wants Venezuela’s oil wealth to benefit the people. Under Maduro’s rule, the regime and its cronies became rich in oil, contributing to the economic collapse and mass exodus of the population from the country, he added.

Meanwhile, the United States left Maduro’s top lieutenants in place and Trump suggested that Venezuela’s interim president, Delcy Rodriguez, would follow U.S. orders.

But if the country’s current leaders don’t cooperate, Trump is leaving open the possibility of sending U.S. ground troops to Venezuela.

When asked in another interview on CBS Face the nation While there is no plan for a US occupation of Venezuela, Rubio refused to rule it out.

“Well, I think first of all, the president still retains his optionality on any and all of these issues,” he said. “He certainly has the ability and the right under the United States Constitution to act against imminent and urgent threats to the country.”

For now, U.S. forces remain in the region at a high state of readiness, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine said Saturday. Trump also said U.S. sanctions would remain in place on Venezuelan oil.

Rubio explained that the sanctions are intended to “cripple that part of how the regime generates revenue.” He also dismissed fears about troops on the ground, calling them an “obsession.”

Trump “doesn’t feel like he’s going to publicly rule out options available to the United States, even though that’s not what we’re seeing right now,” Rubio added. “What you’re seeing right now is an oil quarantine that allows us to have considerable influence over what happens next.”

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

Source link