Rubio lays out three-phase plan for Venezuela after Maduro: 'Not just winging it'

By Fox News · Fox News

Secretary Marco Rubio insisted the U.S. has a plan for post-transition governing in Venezuela, pushing back on criticism from Democrats who say the Trump administration moved faster to capture leader Nicolás Maduro than to outline what would follow. In remarks to reporters on Capitol Hill after briefing Congress Wednesday, Rubio said the plan consists of three phases: stabilization, recovery and transition. Democrats who attended classified briefings in the House and Senate said they left unconvinced the administration had a detailed roadmap for what comes next. "I heard no detailed plan," said Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va. The dispute reflects a debate over whether the Trump administration has a coherent strategy for governing Venezuela after the removal of Maduro, or whether U.S. policy is being driven primarily by military and economic leverage without a defined political end state. SEN TIM KAINE: TRUMP'S VENEZUELA STRIKE TRAMPLED CONGRESS' WAR POWERS. CONGRESS MUST STOP IT "This is not just winging it," Rubio said, rejecting claims the administration lacked a strategy beyond the initial operation. "It’s already happening." "I was in the Senate. When the other party is in power, that’s always what they say." The first phase, Rubio said, focuses on stabilizing the country and preventing chaos, a goal he said would be enforced largely through U.S. control of Venezuela’s oil exports. "As you’ve seen today, we are in the midst right now, and in fact about to execute on a deal to take all the oil they have that’s stuck in Venezuela. They can’t move it because of our sanctions," Rubio said. "That money will then be handled in such a way that we will control how it is disbursed — in a way that benefits the Venezuelan people, not corruption, not the regime." Rubio said the administration expects to sell between 30 million and 50 million barrels of Venezuelan oil as part of that effort. The second phase, which Rubio described as "recovery," would include ensuring American and ot…