US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the United States will use leverage over oil to force further change in Venezuela as he seizes a long-awaited chance to try to shape Latin America in Washington’s favour.
Rubio, 54, emerged Sunday as the administration’s chief public voice on Venezuela, laying out hints of strategy after the US swooped into Caracas to remove President Nicolás Maduro and fly him to New York for trial.
The US raid on Saturday suggests that the former US senator from Florida – long one of the most vocal policymakers on Venezuela – won out with his scepticism about negotiating with Maduro, whom the US considered an illegitimate president and accuses of “narco-terrorism” that killed US citizens.
With questions swirling about how the US will deal with Venezuela’s post-Maduro leadership, Rubio demanded that they sever ties with Iran,
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