Make ‘right decision’ or face more US pressure, Rubio tells Venezuela’s Rodriguez
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has warned Venezuelan officials to make the "right decision" or face mounting pressure from the United States.
US forces abducted the democratically elected Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro from Caracas on Saturday and flew him to New York in a risky move involving heavy bombing, helicopters, jets, warships, and commandos.
Speaking to CBS News' Face the Nation, the top diplomat addressed the Venezuelan issue, saying Washington is ready to work with the remaining leadership if they make the "right decision."
Rubio threatened to continue to mount political and economic pressure on Venezuela if Caracas resists Washington's demands.
With the help of the US military and judiciary -- by striking what he called "drug boats" and taking Venezuelan oil, wherever and whenever possible, in addition to other unlawful measures -- the US will mount increased pressure on Caracas, Rubio said.
Rubio appeared to soften on US President Donald Trump's arrogant statements on Saturday that the United States will "run" Venezuela from now on.
Instead, he made clear that Washington is ready to try working with Maduro's vice president and now acting president, Delcy Rodriguez, and the rest of the Venezuelan officials.
"We are going to see what happens moving forward," Rubio said. "I do know this: that if they don't make the right decision, the United States will retain multiple levers of leverage."
Meanwhile, in a televised address late Saturday, Rodríguez condemned the US attack, saying it carried a “Zionist tint."
Rodríguez, who was designated as interim leader, demanded that Maduro and his wife, who were flown after abduction to a prison facility in New York, be immediately released.
During her address, she emphasized that Maduro remains the “only president of Venezuela.”
Surrounded by military leaders and Cabinet officials, Rodríguez said that a National Defense Council had been formed, and that with the full deployment of Venezuela’s national armed forces, the country “will never again be a colony of any empire.”
She said governments worldwide are "simply shocked" by the Trump administration's decision to attack and kidnap the leader of a sovereign nation, insisting that “history and justice will make them pay.”
“The governments of the world are simply shocked that it is the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela which is the victim and subject of an attack of this nature, which has, without a doubt, a Zionist tint,” she added.
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