Secretary of State Marco Rubio failed to provide any legal justification for President Donald Trump's plan to put himself in charge of Venezuela.
Rubio failed on Sunday during appearance on ABC this weekwhen host George Stephanopoulos asked him under what legal authority Trump intended to “govern” Venezuela.
“Well, first of all, what will happen here is that we will quarantine their oil. This means that their economy will not be able to move forward until conditions are met that are in the national interest of the United States and in the interest of the Venezuelan people. And that is what we intend to do,” Rubio responded.
He went on to rant that he “hopes” the plan will lead to “positive results,” meaning Venezuela won't be a “drug paradise” and will have an oil industry “where the wealth goes to the people, not a handful of corrupt officials”
Unfortunately for Rubio, the question wasn't, “What are your hopes and dreams?”
“Let me ask the question again,” Stephanopoulos insisted. “What is the legal authority of the United States to govern Venezuela?”
“Well, I've explained to you what our goals are and how we're going to use the leverage to get there,” Rubio said. “In terms of our legal powers regarding quarantine, they are very simple. We have court orders. These are the ships that are sanctioned. And we get orders from the courts to prosecute and seize those sanctioned ships.”
“So the United States is now running Venezuela?” Stephanopoulos asked.
“We are moving in the direction in which we will move forward, and this means that we have leverage,” the minister responded.
Rubio's sweet response seems to suggest that the Trump administration has no plans to provide any legal authority for its rule in Venezuela, but is instead using sanctions as soft power. However, this explanation completely ignores the fact that they had just carried out a large-scale military operation – without congressional authorization – to kidnap Nicolas Maduroand are still threatening new attacks on the country.
Shortly after the strike, Trump said he intended for the United States to govern Venezuela “until we can effect a safe, proper and reasonable transfer” of power. Speaking to reporters on Air Force One, Trump confirmed Sunday that the US is currently “in charge” of the South American country.
