Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Jan. 7 that the U.S. has a three-step plan for Venezuela: stabilize the country, open its energy sector to U.S. oil companies during a recovery phase, and transition political power.
First phase: ‘Stabilization’
Speaking to reporters after a Senate briefing, Rubio said the administration’s first phase focuses on “stabilization of the country.”
He said Washington is close to finalizing a deal with Venezuela’s interim authorities that would allow between 30 million and 50 million barrels of oil to be transferred to the U.S. during the initial recovery phase.
President Donald Trump first announced the framework in a Jan. 6 social media post, saying interim Venezuelan officials had agreed to the arrangement. Trump said the oil sales “will be controlled by me, as President of the United States of America, to ensure it is used to benefit the people of Venezuela and the United States.”
Rubio told reporters that the administration is using control over Venezuela’s oil exports as leverage to shape the country’s political future and noted that Venezuela is currently unable to generate oil revenue without U.S. approval because of sanctions enforcement.
“The bottom line is that there is a process now in place where we have tremendous control and leverage over what those interim authorities are doing and are able to do,” he said.
Rubio also referenced U.S. seizures of two sanctioned oil tankers in the Atlantic Ocean on Jan. 7 as part of ongoing sanctions enforcement. One vessel, the Marinera — formerly known as Bella 1 — has been pursued by the U.S. Coast Guard since last month. The tanker, which has historically carried Venezuelan crude oil, was sailing under a Russian flag after previously being registered in Panama, CBS News reported.
According to a social media post from U.S. European Command, authorities seized the vessel under a federal court warrant for violations of U.S. sanctions. The tanker had also been sanctioned for prior involvement in Iranian oil trading.
Russia condemned the U.S. seizure as a violation of maritime law in a statement from its Foreign Ministry and described the action as “outright piracy,” according to The Hill. The country, an ally of the Maduro regime, said it was crucial to “prevent further escalation and to focus on finding a way out through dialogue.”
The U.S. Southern Command said in an X post that the second vessel, the Sophia, was stateless. The U.S. Southern Command also accused the ship of “conducting illicit activities in the Caribbean Sea.”
During a White House press briefing Jan. 7, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the ships were part of Venezuela’s “shadow fleet” used to evade sanctions and added that crew members could face prosecution.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth later shared a statement on X, saying that the U.S. “continues to enforce the blockade against all dark fleet vessels illegally transporting Venezuelan oil to finance illicit activity, stealing from the Venezuelan people.”
Second phase: ‘Recovery’
“The second phase will be a phase that we call recovery and that is ensuring American, Western and other companies have access to the Venezuelan market in a way that is fair,” Rubio said.
He added that this phase includes beginning a national reconciliation process that could include amnesty for political prisoners and the return of opposition figures.
Third phase: ‘Transition’
“And then the third phase, of course, will be one of transition,” Rubio said, adding that “in the end, it will be up to the Venezuelan people to transform their country.”
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said during a Jan. 7 briefing that the administration is working in “close coordination with the interim authorities” and that the South American country’s leadership’s decisions “are going to continue to be dictated by the United States of America.”
Venezuela is currently led by interim president Delcy Rodríguez, who assumed the role Jan. 5 following Maduro’s Jan. 3 capture. As CatholicVote previously reported, Rodríguez, a close confidant of Maduro, initially denounced the U.S. operation but later struck a more conciliatory tone, saying Venezuela seeks a respectful relationship with the U.S.
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