How Marco Rubio Is Running Venezuela From Washington

A bombshell investigation by The New York Times published Saturday reveals that Secretary of State Marco Rubio effectively controls Venezuela’s finances, natural resources, and government operations from Washington — an unprecedented level of direct US influence over a sovereign nation in modern American history. The report details how, six months after US special forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, the Trump administration has established what critics describe as de facto control over the South American nation’s economic and political machinery.

The New Paradigm of US Control

According to the NYT investigation, Rubio’s oversight of Venezuela extends far beyond traditional diplomatic influence. The secretary of state personally oversees the distribution of Venezuela’s oil revenue, approves monthly budgets submitted by acting President Delcy Rodríguez’s government, and maintains the authority to reimpose economic sanctions at will.

“The funds from that will be deposited into an account that we will have oversight over,” Rubio said during a January Senate hearing, describing the mechanism by which the US controls Venezuelan oil revenue. During that same hearing, Rubio revealed that Venezuela would submit monthly budgets to the White House for approval — a level of fiscal control typically reserved for occupied territories, not nominally sovereign nations.

As documented by Wikipedia, the operation that made this arrangement possible — codenamed Operation Absolute Resolve — lasted just 2 hours and 28 minutes on January 3, 2026, but its consequences have reshaped the geopolitical landscape of Latin America.

From Military Capture to Financial Control

The chain of events began when US special forces, including Delta Force and the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, stormed Maduro’s compound in Caracas. The operation killed between 23 and 47 Venezuelan military personnel, 32 Cuban military and security personnel, and two civilians, while seven US soldiers were injured. Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were transported to New York to face narco-terrorism charges in Manhattan federal court, where they pleaded not guilty on January 5.

Just two days later, on January 7, Rubio outlined a three-phase US strategy for Venezuela on national television. Speaking on ABC’s “This Week,” he explained: “What’s going to happen here is we have a quarantine on their oil, that means their economy will not be able to move forward until the conditions that are in the national interest of the United States and the interests of the Venezuelan people are met.”

The Oil Revenue Machine

Venezuela sits atop the largest proven oil reserves in the world — 303 billion barrels. Under the new arrangement, Venezuelan oil sales have already reached over $1 billion since Maduro’s capture, with approximately $5 billion expected in subsequent months. The US received its first $300 million from the oil deal on January 20.

On January 29, acting President Rodríguez signed a law privatizing Venezuela’s oil industry, giving private companies — primarily American — control over production and sale. President Trump subsequently asked US oil firms to invest at least $100 billion in the newly opened sector. This marked a dramatic reversal from Venezuela’s 1976 nationalization of its oil industry, which was further tightened under Hugo Chávez in 2006.

Political Prisoners and Compliance

The Rodríguez government has largely complied with US demands while maintaining defiant rhetoric domestically. As of March 8, 621 political prisoners had been released from an estimated 800-plus held before January. An amnesty bill was approved on February 19. The US embassy in Caracas, closed since 2019, reopened in early 2026.

Rubio has characterized the arrangement as cooperation rather than occupation. “It’s not running [Venezuela]. It’s running policy, the policy with regard to this,” he said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “We want Venezuela to move in a certain direction.” In prepared Senate testimony, he insisted: “There is no war against Venezuela, and we did not occupy a country. There are no US troops on the ground. This was an operation to aid law enforcement.”

Competing Perspectives

The arrangement has drawn sharp criticism from both domestic and international observers. Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) confronted Rubio directly during a hearing: “You are taking their oil at gunpoint. You are holding and selling that oil.” Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer warned: “We have learned through the years when America tries to do regime change and nation building in this way, the American people pay the price in both blood and dollars.”

Internationally, UN officials and international law experts have said the raid violated the UN Charter and Venezuela’s sovereignty. Russia called it “an act of armed aggression,” while China demanded Maduro’s immediate release. Latin American neighbors including Colombia and Brazil criticized the operation.

Rubio has declined to rule out further military action, maintaining what he calls “optionality” — a stance that keeps the threat of force as ongoing leverage over the Rodríguez government.

Implications for Sovereignty and Global Order

The NYT investigation raises profound questions about the precedent being set. The direct control of a sovereign country’s finances, natural resources, and government operations from Washington represents a new paradigm in US foreign policy — one that goes beyond the historical patterns of economic coercion or covert influence into overt, administrative control.

For Venezuela, the arrangement has brought the release of political prisoners and the reopening of diplomatic channels, but at the cost of effective economic sovereignty. The country’s oil wealth, once the foundation of Chávez’s Bolivarian revolution, now flows through accounts under US oversight.

What to Watch For

The indefinite nature of US control raises unanswered questions about an exit strategy. The Rodríguez government’s compliance is driven in part by self-preservation — as Rubio noted, “Rodríguez is well aware of the fate of Maduro; it is our belief that her own self-interest aligns with advancing our key objectives.” But how long such an arrangement can be sustained, and what comes after, remains unclear.

Legal challenges are already mounting. Families of civilians killed in US boat strikes during the operation have filed wrongful death lawsuits. The legality of the entire enterprise — from the initial raid to the ongoing financial control — remains contested in both domestic and international forums.

For now, one thing is certain: from his office in Washington, Marco Rubio is running Venezuela in a way no American official has ever run a foreign country before.