(The Times article seems to approve of the new neoliberalized Venezuela as one of the writers is posted in Caracas and is surely aligned with the business interests of the nation. They also lie about the capture of Maduro, suggesting it was a military achievement by TrumpyBear rather than treasonous betrayal by Delcy Rodriquez. However it does make clear how close Gusano Rubio and Delcy have become, talking and texting every day multiple times, her taking her orders from Rubio and doing Washington's bidding. She's down with the revolution, huh?)
from the NYT
President Trump was sitting in the Oval Office earlier this year with Secretary of State Marco Rubio when an idea came to him.
Maybe
he should dispatch Mr. Rubio permanently to Caracas, the Venezuelan
capital, where U.S. commandos had carried out the proudest foreign
policy achievement of Mr. Trump’s second term: the capture of Nicolás
Maduro, the country’s president.
Mr.
Rubio could be the next leader of Venezuela, Mr. Trump suggested. And
while the president’s aides say he was joking — and that he frequently
teases Mr. Rubio about an overseas assignment — the fact is that Mr.
Rubio does not need to move to Caracas.
He already runs Venezuela from Washington.
In
the six months since U.S. forces blew open Mr. Maduro’s bedroom door
and snatched him in the dead of night, Mr. Rubio has become the de facto
viceroy of Venezuela, holding sway over a sovereign nation in a way
that no American official has since L. Paul Bremer III arrived in
Baghdad in 2003 to run U.S.-occupied Iraq
Mr. Rubio now effectively controls
Venezuela’s finances, the distribution of its natural resources and its
government, according to interviews with more than a dozen officials and
people close to both governments in Washington and Caracas, who
provided details about his involvement in steering the country’s
policies. Many spoke on condition of anonymity to describe private
interactions and internal discussions.
While
he has not visited Venezuela in person since the U.S. took over, the
secretary of state is deeply involved in the country’s day-to-day
operations, keeping in close contact with Delcy Rodríguez, who was Mr.
Maduro’s vice president and now leads her country on an acting basis,
with the imprimatur of the United States. The two exchange messages in
Spanish on WhatsApp, trading gossip, birthday greetings and selfies.
Despite
the banter, the relationship between Mr. Rubio and Ms. Rodríguez is far
from a partnership. It is a manifestation of Trump-era American power,
in which the winner takes all regardless of sovereignty and
international law.
