President Trump was sitting in the Oval Office earlier this year with Secretary of State Marco Rubio when an idea came to him.<\/p>\n
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\u2019s second term: the capture of Nicol\u00e1s Maduro, the country\u2019s president.<\/p>\n
Mr. Rubio could be the next leader of Venezuela, Mr. Trump suggested. And while the president\u2019s aides say he was joking \u2014 and that he frequently teases Mr. Rubio about an overseas assignment \u2014 the fact is that Mr. Rubio does not need to move to Caracas.<\/p>\n
He already runs Venezuela from Washington.<\/p>\n
In the six months since U.S. forces blew open Mr. Maduro\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
Mr. Rubio now effectively controls Venezuela\u2019s 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\u2019s policies. Many spoke on condition of anonymity to describe private interactions and internal discussions.<\/p>\n
While he has not visited Venezuela in person since the U.S. took over, the secretary of state is deeply involved in the country\u2019s day-to-day operations, keeping in close contact with Delcy Rodr\u00edguez, who was Mr. Maduro\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
Despite the banter, the relationship between Mr. Rubio and Ms. Rodr\u00edguez 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.<\/p>\n
The Venezuelan government did not respond to a request for comment. The Trump administration did not address detailed questions about Mr. Rubio\u2019s authority in Venezuela. Mr. Rubio has downplayed his role, and largely avoids discussing his work. He declined multiple requests for an interview.<\/p>\n
Tommy Pigott, a State Department spokesman, said in a statement that \u201cwith renewed cooperation and sound economic stewardship, Venezuela can re-emerge as a stable, prosperous partner whose citizens benefit from its vast natural wealth and strengthened ties with the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n
The direct control over Venezuela\u2019s public revenues, in particular, distinguishes Washington\u2019s influence there from most other countries beholden to its military and financial might.<\/p>\n
The U.S. Treasury receives the revenue from most of Venezuela\u2019s exports, then disburses it to Venezuela through the country\u2019s banking system, a relationship akin to parents handing out allowances to children. Mr. Rubio and his team set the conditions on what that money can be spent on, and by whom.<\/p>\n
This system has allowed Mr. Rubio to stop Venezuela\u2019s most egregious corruption schemes. And it brings some benefits to the Venezuelan government, which uses the effective protection of the U.S. Treasury to receive revenues without being hounded by the numerous creditors seeking repayment of billions in unpaid debt.<\/p>\n
But the arrangement has also given Mr. Rubio immense leverage over Ms. Rodr\u00edguez, who depends on the money to pay workers and prop up the national currency.<\/p>\n
He also oversees the application of U.S. sanctions on Venezuela, deciding who gets to do business in the country and how. He has worked to reshape the oil sector and boosted the access of U.S. companies. For her part, Ms. Rodr\u00edguez runs important government appointments by him, such as the minister of defense.<\/p>\n
Since two earthquakes struck Venezuela last month, Mr. Rubio has sought to bolster the country\u2019s interim government. The United States has sent 900 military personnel to Venezuela, committed nearly $400 million in aid and delivered crates of cash to the Venezuelan government.<\/p>\n
The earthquakes have complicated Mr. Rubio\u2019s stated mission to return Venezuela to democracy (\u201cIt\u2019s a setback in that regard,\u201d Mr. Rubio acknowledged last month). But the country\u2019s ability to recover is critical to Mr. Trump\u2019s ultimate goal: securing Venezuelan oil<\/a> for U.S. interests.<\/p>\n The arrangement is deeply unusual, unfolding 80 years after the United States relinquished its last sizable formal colony, the Philippines.<\/p>\n But Mr. Trump has made clear he wants to return to an era of American expansionism<\/a>, musing about taking control of Greenland, Canada and the Panama Canal.<\/p>\n He has found the most success in Venezuela. But there are risks.<\/p>\n Mr. Trump\u2019s critics accuse the United States of siphoning Venezuela\u2019s resources and propping up an authoritarian government by leaving Mr. Maduro\u2019s henchmen largely in place. The arrangement also entangles the United States in the fortunes of a deeply unpopular, unelected regime facing increasingly restless clamor for political change.<\/p>\n \u201cSecretary Rubio said that we are not at war with Venezuela,\u201d Representative Sean Casten, Democrat of Illinois, said to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent during a congressional hearing<\/a> in February. What authority, Mr. Casten asked, did the United States have to control Venezuelan assets?<\/p>\n Mr. Bessent told Mr. Casten that he would get back to him.<\/p>\n Mr. Rubio\u2019s hard-nosed realpolitik in Venezuela is a sharp departure for a man who spent his career fashioning himself as a champion for democracy in Latin America. He has said his goal is an eventual democratic transition.<\/p>\n The outcome of the Venezuela foray could shape Mr. Rubio\u2019s political future as Mr. Trump considers his successor.<\/p>\n \u2018Make Venezuela Great Again\u2019<\/p>\n In the early hours of Jan. 3, shortly after Mr. Maduro was captured, Mr. Rubio reached Ms. Rodr\u00edguez by phone. Speaking in Spanish, Mr. Rubio told her that she had a choice between working with the United States or witnessing a broader attack targeting Venezuela\u2019s infrastructure, military bases and senior officials.<\/p>\n After some negotiation, Ms. Rodr\u00edguez agreed.<\/p>\n She told Mr. Rubio that \u201cshe\u2019s essentially willing to do what we think is necessary to make Venezuela great again,\u201d according to Mr. Trump. The president said the United States would \u201crun the country\u201d until there was a \u201csafe, proper and judicious transition\u201d of power.<\/p>\n Days later, Mr. Trump told The New York Times in an interview that he expected the United States to run Venezuela for years.<\/p>\n At the center of the fulcrum is Mr. Rubio, dubbed by other officials as \u201cviceroy,\u201d the title given to the powerful governors who ruled the Spanish empire until Venezuela and most of its other provinces rebelled and won independence in the early 19th century.<\/p>\n As Ms. Rodr\u00edguez started to set up her government, Mr. Rubio weighed in on key personnel decisions, and encouraged her to purge Mr. Maduro\u2019s family and business partners. She followed through.<\/a><\/p>\n Most Venezuelans expressed relief at Mr. Maduro\u2019s downfall only to watch in disbelief<\/a> as the Trump administration struck an alliance with most of his chief enforcers. Inflation has fallen but remains the world\u2019s highest, and the country\u2019s currency keeps losing value. Millions are clamoring<\/a> for new elections, putting pressure on Mr. Rubio to move beyond economic deals and bring political change. Investors are nervous about putting capital into a system that could crumble at any moment.<\/p>\n Before the earthquakes, Ms. Rodr\u00edguez had been asking Mr. Rubio for more financial autonomy and the scrapping of economic sanctions, to reduce the domestic pressure on her government.<\/p>\n Mr. Rubio has been sympathetic to her arguments, but the U.S. government has not released control.<\/p>\n Mr. Rubio\u2019s work with Ms. Rodr\u00edguez has provoked grumbling among some career U.S. diplomats, Venezuelan Americans and Mr. Trump\u2019s allies, who bristle at the idea that Mr. Maduro\u2019s chief lieutenant is in power.<\/p>\n Mr. Rubio and other officials have dismissed those concerns, pointing to how Ms. Rodr\u00edguez has followed nearly every order the administration has made, especially those related to the country\u2019s finances. Venezuela sells much of its oil through two oil trading companies, Trafigura and Vitol, in an arrangement set up by the Trump administration<\/a>.<\/p>\n Mr. Rubio has largely eclipsed Chris Wright, the energy secretary, in opening up Venezuela\u2019s oil industry to foreign investment, the cornerstone of Mr. Trump\u2019s vision for the country. He has prioritized the arrival of new American companies at the expense of European oil producers who were already working in the country.<\/p>\n Ben Dietderich, a spokesman for Mr. Wright, said the secretary has worked closely with Mr. Rubio, and has spoken regularly with energy industry leaders and Ms. Rodr\u00edguez.<\/p>\n Washington\u2019s grip on Venezuela\u2019s economy extends beyond the oil revenues. Mr. Rubio\u2019s team drafts the licenses that provide companies who want to do business in Venezuela with exemptions from sanctions. Mr. Rubio has warned Ms. Rodr\u00edguez\u2019s government to abstain from business with U.S. adversaries. Following Mr. Maduro\u2019s downfall, for example, Venezuela\u2019s state oil company has quietly taken over the operations of the oil projects that it co-owns with Russia\u2019s state-run Rosneft. Rosneft did not respond to request for comment.<\/p>\n The Trump administration has also successfully pressured Ms. Rodr\u00edguez to turn over Venezuelans who have crossed the Justice Department. At the behest of the United States, Ms. Rodr\u00edguez\u2019s government in February detained Alex Saab<\/a>, the billionaire friend and business partner of Mr. Maduro, and approved his extradition to the United States, after stripping him of his Venezuelan passport.<\/p>\n Some officials believe the Justice Department wants to use Mr. Saab to strengthen the case against Mr. Maduro, who has been charged with various drug trafficking crimes<\/a>.<\/p>\n And in June, the Rodr\u00edguez government helped the United States kill a criminal boss with longstanding ties to Venezuelan officials, according to several people familiar with the operation.<\/p>\n U.S. forces used the intelligence provided by Ms. Rodr\u00edguez\u2019s officials to kill Ni\u00f1o Guerrero, one of the leaders of the gang Tren de Aragua, in a missile strike in a remote area of southern Venezuela. It was the first military collaboration between the two countries in decades. The Venezuelan government later recovered the gang leader\u2019s body and passed it to the United States.<\/p>\n The Trump administration has accused Tren de Aragua of working with Mr. Maduro to flood the United States with drugs and illegal migrants, even though U.S. intelligence agencies last year assessed<\/a> that Mr. Maduro did not control the gang. <\/p>\n The Trump administration even exerts control over Ms. Rodr\u00edguez\u2019s public appearances and statements. In May, Mr. Rubio announced that Ms. Rodr\u00edguez would travel to India before the Venezuelan government mentioned it, surprising Venezuelan officials and foreign diplomats.<\/p>\n When the Fox News anchor Bret Baier contacted Ms. Rodr\u00edguez about participating in an interview, she told him that Mr. Trump would have to approve. Mr. Trump loved that Ms. Rodr\u00edguez was deferring to him, and has repeatedly recounted the story to others when they ask about her, according to multiple people familiar with his comments.<\/p>\n When the United States attacked Iran, Yvan Gil, Venezuela\u2019s foreign minister, issued a soft condemnation<\/a> of the aggression against Venezuela\u2019s longtime ally.<\/p>\n The Trump administration communicated to Ms. Rodr\u00edguez that the post should be taken down, and warned her not to publicly support its adversaries again. Mr. Gil deleted the post<\/a> hours after posting it.<\/p>\n In effect, it was an admission that Venezuela no longer set its foreign policy.<\/p>\n Mr. Gil did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n Mr. Rubio was asleep in Bahrain last month when he was awakened by a call from the White House Situation Room. Two massive earthquakes had hit Venezuela, and early images were grim. Entire neighborhoods were flattened, and scores of people were missing.<\/p>\n Shortly after, Mr. Rubio spoke to Ms. Rodr\u00edguez, promising the full assistance of the United States. American rescue teams were on the ground two days later. Mr. Rubio has described the administration\u2019s plans for Venezuela in three phases: recover the economy, stabilize the country and transition it to democracy.<\/p>\n Before the earthquakes, U.S. officials said they were in the second phase, working to open up Venezuela to international investment. To further that goal, senior Trump administration officials have traveled to Venezuela to meet their counterparts and strike new energy and mining deals.<\/p>\n The resulting announcements, however, have mostly been optimistic outlines of potential investments.<\/p>\n In March, Doug Burgum, the interior secretary, visited Venezuela and met with Ms. Rodr\u00edguez at the Presidential Palace. During the visit, Mr. Rubio texted her to ask how the meeting was going. Ms. Rodr\u00edguez said it was going well, and sent a selfie with Mr. Burgum.<\/p>\n But the meeting was overshadowed by damaging news. Reuters reported<\/a> that day that the Justice Department was quietly building a legal case against Ms. Rodr\u00edguez.<\/p>\n Ms. Rodr\u00edguez\u2019s administration was shocked, and sought clarification from the White House. To allay Ms. Rodr\u00edguez\u2019s concerns, Todd Blanche, then the deputy attorney general, called the report \u201ccompletely FALSE<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n But the Venezuelan government sought further assurances. So the next day Mr. Rubio texted Mr. Rodr\u00edguez the link to a social media post from the U.S. president.<\/p>\n \u201cDelcy Rodr\u00edguez, who is the President of Venezuela, is doing a great job, and working with U.S. Representatives very well,\u201d Mr. Trump wrote<\/a>. Ms. Rodr\u00edguez was pleased, and wanted to thank Mr. Trump with a post of her own. But first, she shared the draft with Mr. Rubio. She posted it<\/a> after receiving his approval.<\/p>\n Before Mr. Maduro\u2019s capture, U.S. prosecutors had been looking into many Venezuelan officials, including Ms. Rodr\u00edguez, though it is unclear if those efforts have revealed evidence of crimes. The Associated Press reported in May<\/a> that the Trump administration told prosecutors to stop investigating Ms. Rodr\u00edguez.<\/p>\n The success of the efforts to bring stability to Venezuela, the second phase of Mr. Rubio\u2019s plan, largely hinges on foreign investment. But investors are cautious. The oil sector is degraded and corrupt, and Ms. Rodr\u00edguez\u2019s grip on power in uncertain. The earthquakes have delayed the negotiations for new oil contracts.<\/p>\n Mr. Trump appears unworried. He has repeatedly suggested that Venezuela could become the 51st state.<\/p>\n Who may lead the country on a more permanent basis is still deeply uncertain. Mar\u00eda Corina Machado, the exiled opposition leader, remains the country\u2019s most popular politician. But she has sworn enemies among Venezuela\u2019s security and military officials, leading Mr. Rubio to bypass her and settle on Ms. Rodr\u00edguez as the country\u2019s handpicked leader.<\/p>\n