US Secretary of State Marco Rubio plans to threaten using power “to ensure maximum cooperation” from the Venezuelan interim authorities when he testifies publicly for the primary time because the army operation to seize and depose Nicolás Maduro was carried out in early January.
“We will closely monitor the performance of the interim authorities as they cooperate with our stage-based plan to restore stability to Venezuela. Make no mistake, as the President has stated, we are prepared to use force to ensure maximum cooperation if other methods fail,” Rubio will say, in accordance to his ready remarks for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday.
Rubio’s testimony comes amid continued scrutiny of the army operation and the administration’s broader plans for Venezuela.
“(Delcy) Rodríguez is well aware of the fate of Maduro; it is our belief that her own self-interest aligns with advancing our key objectives,” Rubio intends to say.
He will as soon as once more assert in his testimony that the exercise was not an act of warfare, however fairly “an operation to aid law enforcement.” The Trump administration has used this argument as a part of its justification for why it didn’t get hold of congressional approval before the operation.
“There is no war against Venezuela, and we did not occupy a country. There are no US troops on the ground,” in accordance to Rubio’s ready remarks.
Not solely did the administration not get congressional approval, it additionally didn’t give advance discover to key lawmakers in regards to the army motion, angering Democrats and a few Republicans on Capitol Hill. However, efforts to constrain the president’s energy via a warfare powers decision narrowly failed in each the Senate and the House.