Sources: Rubio Pushes Trump Deeper into Venezuelan Quagmire

Jan. 4—As Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife were flown into custody in New York City to face drug trafficking charges, President Donald Trump was proclaiming that the United States would be running Venezuela for the foreseeable future, until a transition could be arranged, and that the United States and its oil companies would reassert their interests in the nation’s oil industry. And while Trump basked in his own self‑praise for taking bold action removing a tyrant, his gusano Secretary of State Marco Rubio smugly smiled at his side in the realization that he engineered this as part of his obsessive scheme to rid the hemisphere of “communist” and socialist influence, to pay back for what Fidel Castro had done to his family, expelling them from Cuba as part of the exploitive class that he called gusanos (birdshit).

But sources close to the White House who confirmed that it was Rubio who had coaxed Trump into going for the Special Forces–led snatch operation that plucked Maduro and his wife from their bedroom last night also expressed fear that neither Rubio nor Trump realize the potential disaster for the United States that they have set in motion. Trump took the action as part of the executive order that he claims allows him to deploy the military to fight drug traffickers and that he was merely arresting a charged drug trafficker and bringing him to trial. He also said that was moving to overthrow a sovereign government, and then stated that he intended to make billions of dollars for American oil interests.

Escalation Risks and Talk of “Boots on the Ground”

Trump, with Rubio nodding his agreement, said at the same press conference yesterday that it may become necessary for America to exert further force to see this operation through, which has already seen the U.S. Navy intercept oil shipments from Venezuela and blow-up dozens of boats and their passengers which are said to be running drugs. That might mean American “boots on the ground,” which in the past Trump has railed against, but now he says he would not be averse to.

Trump has claimed that the removal of the tyrant Maduro is already popular with the Venezuelan people, and that he anticipates cooperation from all sectors of the population in his plans to "make Venezuela great again." But Maduro was the successor to the leader of the revolutionary Bolivarian movement Hugo Chavez, who was an Indian and the champion of the poor people against the caste of elites who Trump associates with, and who expelled American interests which he, Chavez, found exploitative. That movement remains strong, and who is to say that they will back making their country safe again for American investors and oilmen. There are also conflicting factions among Maduro’s supporters, whom Trump has called "a gang of thieve." Most sober analysts say that if a transitional government does not deliver relief from soaring prices and unemployment, there will be chaos and possible civil war.

For now, Trump does not truly see this danger, speaking only of the success in what he was told would be a swift and successful operation. Sources report that Trump had originally eschewed any kind of direct military action, in favor of a blockade of Venezuelan oil shipments, which he was told would bring Maduro to his knees, but might take months to be effective.

Ultimatum, Intelligence Leaks, and the Snatch Decision

Trump reportedly brought his impatience up at a meeting last month of the task force overseeing the operation, which already featured a massive naval deployment in the area. Rubio, sources report, suggested that there was another way to force the issue: deliver an ultimatum to Maduro that he leave or suffer the consequences; if he refused, then this would justify a military operation, already ready to go, designed by the CIA and the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC).

The ultimatum, these sources report, was delivered two weeks ago: Maduro and his family were offered a gilded exile in Turkey. The Venezuelan leader did not yet say yes or no. But Rubio brought up in the last week that Maduro was seen happy and dancing at rallies, and was telling people he was going nowhere. The Secretary of State said that he was laughing at the United States and Trump. He said we need to "go now," and Trump agreed, authorizing the snatch operation, for which precise information necessary to make it work was reportedly given by a CIA operative in Maduro’s inner circle.

Meanwhile, sources report that information about the impending strike was given to certain people in Maduro’s camp, which may explain why there was so little resistance to the operation. No Americans lost their lives, nor was any U.S. equipment damaged; about 40 Venezuelans were killed in helicopter strikes on three military bases.

Rubio’s Preferred Successor and Internal U.S. Disagreements

Rubio had also gotten in touch with the Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez, whom his sources had indicated would play along with the regime change. At the press conference yesterday, Trump declared that he believed Rodriguez would be the best choice to lead the transition, stating that Rubio had spoken to her and “she’s essentially willing to do what we think is necessary to make Venezuela great again.”

This all being said despite the fact Nobel Laureate Maria Corina Machado had effectively won the 2024 election which Maduro, Trump claimed, had stolen. But Trump, in anointing Rodriguez as his choice, now argued that while Machado was “a very nice woman,” she did not have enough "respect" in Venezuela to govern.

Sources close to the White House said that both Rubio and Trump preferred Rodriguez because she had done a nice job running the country’s oil industry and she could ease getting U.S. interests involved again through her contacts.

For the time being, however, Rodriguez is still saying that Maduro is the President of Venezuela and that Trump should release him and his wife immediately.

Other sources report that there was another way to do all this without the military raid. They say that Trump Special Envoy and friend Ric Grenell, who Trump has appointed to run the Kennedy Center (now Trump‑Kennedy Center) for the Performing Arts in Washington, had told people that he could easily negotiate a deal with Maduro, who had privately offered to resign and go into exile, but wanted to have some minimum say in the transition to protect certain allies. But Rubio shot down that offer. These sources say Rubio needed the military operation as an "object lesson" to other nations on his target list, Colombia and most prominently, Cuba.

A New Era of Gunboat Diplomacy and Warnings of a Quagmire

However Trump describes it, we have entered a new age of American gunboat diplomacy, of the kind former Marine Corps Commandant Maj. Gen. Smedley Butler criticized as making him a debt collector for Wall Street in the first two decades of the 20th Century. “We are playing with fire here,” said a source close to the White House. “What happens if people don’t want to be helped by the United States and Donald Trump, especially at the point of a gun? What happens if they fight us or fight each other, and we have to fight back. Then we could have a new Vietnam right in our own backyard.”

The New York Times, which editorialized today against Trump acting to make war on nations by executive order, without Congressional approval, also featured an article with various analysts and others worrying about the unforeseen consequences of Trump’s action. They interview a Venezuelan named Jose and report:

“José and many other Venezuelans have wanted Mr. Maduro out, but they worry that the United States has no plan for a peaceful transition of power and that the South American nation could descend into chaos — with a collection of regional guerrilla groups biting off territory and rival government factions fighting for power...

"To many Venezuelans and analysts, Mr. Trump’s focus on oil reserves draws similarities to the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003. Then President George W. Bush declared ‘mission accomplished’ just six weeks after the invasion — only for Iraq to descend into a brutal civil war that killed thousands of Iraqis and U.S. troops.

“On Saturday while addressing reporters, Mr. Trump said that the United States will ‘run’ Venezuela, but the country is roughly twice as large as California in square miles and filled with mountains and dense forests. Analysts say that the United States does not have sufficient forces in the Caribbean to prop up a Venezuelan government of Washington’s choosing, despite Mr. Trump’s threats to do so...

“Regional threats also loom. A prominent Colombian rebel group is active in the border region of Venezuela and could destabilize the country if there is a power vacuum in Caracas, according to former U.S. diplomats and analysts.”

“I am afraid we have stuck our feet in the muck,” said the source close to the White House, “And I don’t see how we get them out of it.”