Rubio details 3-phase US plan for Venezuela leading to a political transition

Antonio María Delgado and Nora Gamez Torres, Miami Herald on Jan 7, 2026

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The United States is preparing to take control of tens of millions of barrels of Venezuelan oil as part of a sweeping, three-phase strategy aimed at stabilizing the country, jump-starting its economy and steering a political transition, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday.

Under the plan described by Rubio, the first phase focuses on stabilizing Venezuela and preventing a collapse into chaos, using strict enforcement of oil sanctions and a maritime quarantine as Washington’s primary leverage. The second phase, dubbed recovery, aims to reopen the country’s economy under transparent rules that allow fair access for American, Western and allied companies while advancing national reconciliation through amnesty, prisoner releases and the return of political exiles.

A final transition phase would overlap with both efforts, gradually blending economic reopening with political change and “reconciliation nationally” that would lead to freeing imprisoned members of the opposition as Venezuela moves toward a new governing framework.

At the heart of the plan is an aggressive enforcement of an oil quarantine that has effectively trapped large volumes of Venezuelan crude inside the country. U.S. officials, Rubio said, are now moving to seize and sell between 30 million and 50 million barrels of that oil at full market prices — a sharp break from years in which Venezuelan crude was sold at deep discounts through opaque channels.

“We are going to sell it in the marketplace at market rates, not at the discounts Venezuela was getting,” Rubio told reporters after briefing senators on Capitol Hill on the recent U.S. military actions in Venezuela. The proceeds, he added, will be tightly controlled to ensure they “benefit the Venezuelan people, not corruption, not the regime.”

At current market prices, 30 million barrels of crude would be worth roughly $1.4 billion, while 50 million barrels would have a market value of approximately $2.4 billion.

Rubio said the oil seizures are already underway. On the day of his remarks, two additional ships linked to Venezuelan oil shipments were seized, he said, underscoring what U.S. officials describe as their strongest source of leverage over the country’s future.

That leverage, Rubio said, anchors the first phase of Washington’s plan: stabilization. The goal is to prevent Venezuela from slipping into chaos while using control over oil revenues to shape political outcomes.

“We don’t want it descending into chaos,” Rubio said. “Part of that stabilization ... is our quarantine.”

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