Rubio Defends Cooperation Strategy Despite Democratic Warnings About Authoritarian Continuity

Secretary of State Marco Rubio stood firm on the administration’s decision to work with Venezuela’s interim government despite persistent Democratic warnings that collaborating with former Nicolas Maduro officials perpetuates authoritarian structures. The Wednesday testimony revealed fundamental disagreements about whether regime change through military intervention can achieve democratic outcomes when implemented officials remain in power.
The former Florida senator maintained that engaging acting president Delcy Rodriguez and other former regime members represents unavoidable pragmatism given Venezuela’s governmental realities. He argued that American economic leverage through Treasury-controlled oil revenue accounts provides sufficient mechanisms to influence behavior and ensure progress toward democratic reforms over time.
Rubio outlined monthly budget approval processes, commercial requirements, and energy sector access arrangements as tools for maintaining oversight while nominally allowing interim authorities to govern. He suggested that sustained pressure combined with tangible incentives for compliance would gradually transform governmental practices even if personnel remain largely unchanged from the Maduro era.
Democrats countered that this approach risks legitimizing authoritarian figures and structures rather than dismantling them. Senator Cory Booker pressed particularly hard on contradictions between stated democratic objectives and practical cooperation with officials who participated in years of repression, corruption, and electoral manipulation under Maduro.
The hearing also addressed Greenland tensions, NATO alliance debates, potential Iran military action, and Chinese ambitions toward Taiwan. Rubio sought to present the administration’s foreign policy as coherent despite apparent contradictions, emphasizing that practical necessities sometimes require working with imperfect partners while maintaining pressure for fundamental changes.