The U.S. Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, stated that Washington is working on a “three-phase” plan for Venezuela: stabilization, recovery, and transition.
In a press conference, he stated that the immediate goal is to prevent the country from "descending into chaos."
According to Rubio, the first phase —"stabilizing the country"— is based on what he called a "quarantine" (blockade) that, according to him, allows the U.S. to exert key influence.
In this context, he said that two more ships were captured and that his government was "about to execute an agreement" to take the oil that he claimed is "trapped" in Venezuela because "they cannot move it" due to that quarantine and the sanctions.
Rubio stated that the United States will take between 30 and 50 million barrels and that this crude oil will be sold “in the market, at market prices,” instead of the “discounts” that, he said, Venezuela was receiving.
He added that the funds will be managed in a way that his government controls how they are distributed, with the aim—according to his words—of benefiting "the Venezuelan people," "not corruption," nor "the regime."
As a second phase, Rubio described what he called "recovery", aimed at ensuring that American, Western, and other companies have access to the Venezuelan market "in a fair manner."
In parallel, he stated that a process of national reconciliation would be promoted to grant amnesty to opposition forces, releasing them from prison or allowing them to return to the country to begin rebuilding civil society.
The third phase, according to Rubio, would be the "transition", of which he promised to provide more details "in the days to come", assuring that his team feels they are advancing "in a very positive way".
Rubio presented this three-stage framework in a context marked by the U.S. strategy to prevent internal disorder, promote economic recovery, and lead to a political transition.
The United States also revealed that it will control the sale of Venezuelan oil for an “indefinite” period and will deposit the proceeds from those transactions into accounts controlled by Washington, as affirmed this Tuesday by Energy Secretary Chris Wright at an energy conference in Miami.
Wright stated that Washington will put "on the market" the crude oil that comes from Venezuela —including the oil described as "stuck"— and that from then on, "we will sell the production that comes from Venezuela on the market," with sales directed both to U.S. refineries and to buyers "around the world," but carried out by the U.S. Government and with revenues deposited in accounts under the control of the U.S. government, according to EFE.
The secretary stated that he is “working directly in cooperation with the Venezuelans” following Tuesday's announcement from President Donald Trump that Venezuela will supply the United States with between 30 and 50 million barrels for sale on the North American market.
The plan includes the shipment of those volumes on storage vessels to unloading docks in the United States.
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