Analysis: Marco Rubio’s Ownership of Venezuela Narrative
Nearly all news media in the United States have embraced the idea that the US owns Venezuela
You hear it in the news constantly. The narratives asking, “What are the next steps for us in Venezuela?” and “Does Trump have a plan?” These are all questions premised on “What are we going to do next?” Meanwhile, support for Maduro seems higher than ever in Venezuela due to his handling of US military threats, and support for the government holds steady; none of the major media outlets have asked Venezuelans in the country about what their future holds.
Discussing the country’s oil is based on the same ownership narrative. All the questions revolve around the US “taking” the oil and controlling its revenue. Pushing ideas suggesting the Venezuelan government “stole” from oil companies isn’t just a lie; it’s propaganda that justifies oil companies stealing from Venezuela. But what do you expect from a news media ecosystem that not only profits from war, but also from the oil companies that stand to benefit the most?
However, this isn’t just about greed; it is imperialism and colonialism. It’s about white Christian nationalist dominion, not unlike the “Manifest Destiny” era that posits white people are civilized and the natives are savages. It’s about using the Bible to suggest “divine providence” over entire countries and continents as it targets nonwhite people for slaughter and destabilization, making it easier to rob them of their wealth.
“It was the fulfillment of our manifest destiny to overspread the continent allotted by Providence for the free development of our yearly multiplying millions. No longer bounded by the limits of the confederacy, it looks abroad upon the whole earth, and into the mind of the republic daily sinks deeper and deeper the conviction that civilization on the earth—the reform of the governments of the ancient world—the emancipation of the whole race, are dependent, in a great degree, on the United States.” – John L. O’Sullivan, New York Herald, 1845
It is without question that we are living in a neo-colonial era. While the Trump administration continues to inadvertently expose itself through the outright incompetence coming from various levels in the White House, it is now making it abundantly clear. Claiming ownership of the entire hemisphere comes from none other than Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has been trying to find ways into Trump’s innermost circles by building an alliance with White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, who has always disliked Rubio, presumably because he’s Latino.
It seems claiming ownership of Latin America opened that door for Rubio.
Rubio spent the last several days asserting that ownership, primarily over Venezuela, after the attack on the country and the kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. His rhetoric highlights how too often, legacy media in the US simply repeat what government officials say without much scrutiny or pushback. Like the 40 beheaded babies story after October 7, 2023, corporate-owned news has for years been repeating dubious claims about Venezuela, Cuba, and all of Latin America as if the US is the white savior and 670 million people in the region aren’t capable of deciding how to govern themselves or use their natural resources.
Yesterday, during remarks to the press, Rubio discussed the first step of “stabilization” of the country while reinforcing that the US intends to “take” 30-50 million barrels of oil and plans to control the revenue for Venezuela. Again, not one reporter asked how Venezuelans in the country feel about this, which, as many know, are unlikely to accept any type of US control.
“We are going to take between 30 and 50 million barrels of oil,” said Rubio. “We’re going to sell it in the marketplace – at market rates, not at the discounts Venezuela was getting. That money will then be handled in such a way that we will control how it is disbursed in a way that benefits the Venezuelan people, not corruption, not the regime,” continued Rubio. “So, we have a lot of leverage to move on the stabilization front.”
According to Rubio, the second phase is “a phase that we call recovery, and that is ensuring that American, Western, and other companies have access to the Venezuelan market.” He continued by suggesting “reconciliation,” building new opposition forces that will be “brought back to the country, and begin to rebuild civil society.” The emphasis again is not on the 30 million Venezuelans in the country, but instead on the minority outside the country.
It should come as no surprise that the third phase is to lead a transition government, ignoring the fact that a government with hundreds of elected officials is currently in place. If the idea is to oust a democratically elected government, along wth the representatives who represent that government, then that plan isn’t democratic. What becomes obvious is that the US intends to install its own government, with its chosen representatives and leaders.
Rubio then explained how the White House plans to pull this off.
“Like, the oil arrangement that we’ve made with PDVSA on their sanctioned oil that they can’t move – understand, they are not generating any revenue from their oil right now,” said Rubio. “They can’t move it unless we allow it to move because we have sanctions, because we’re enforcing those sanctions.”
He continued and talked about how “This is tremendous leverage,” while making ot abundantly clear that the Trump administration intends to control the whole of Venezuela’s government with “an amount of leverage and influence and control over how this process moves forward.” He drove this point home several times more, thus exposing motivations that have little to do with democracy and everything to do with dominion over Venezuela and its vast wealth.
“Well, first of all, the bottom line is that there is a process now in place, where we have tremendous control and leverage over what those interim authorities are doing and are able to do … We are prepared, under the right conditions, using the leverage that we have, which includes the fact that they cannot move any oil unless we allow them to move it,” reiterated Rubio.
These are points that Rubio drove home on all the Sunday political talk shows, and it’s a narrative legacy news media has openly embraced. When Margaret Brennan on CBS’s Face the Nation asked about installing Edmundo Gonzalez, the presumed winner of Venezuela’s 2024 election, and Maria Corina Machado, the so-called opposition leader, Rubio backpedaled. Instead, he reinforced the idea of ownership. A narrative that goes so far that it denies the man, whom Rubio has claimed won a presidential election, from taking power.
“Well, I think there are a couple of things. I have tremendous admiration for María Corina Machado. I have admiration for Edmundo,” said Rubio. “We have all those views about what – the election that happened the last time, and not only us, but many other countries around the world. There is that. And there’s – then – but there’s the mission that we are on right now,” continued Rubio. “We have been very clear from the beginning, because I still think that a lot of people analyze everything that happens in foreign policy through the lens of what happened from 2001 to 2015 or ‘16. The whole foreign policy apparatus thinks everything is Libya, everything is Iraq, everything is Afghanistan. This is not the Middle East, and our mission here is very different.”
See how he dodged the question while essentially throwing Gonzalez and Machado off to the side? He also threw out everything they’ve ever suggested about Venezuelans not being interested in far-right leadership, which both Gonzalez and Machado represent. Instead, he suggests that a far-right white Christian nationalist government be installed by force, something he promoted for years and supports in various countries in the region that have leaders with ties to global white nationalist movements.
Rubio also dodged the question about Gonzalez and Machado when NBC’s Kristen Welker asked him about it, using the same evasive tactic. He later skirted any questions about the US’s legal authority to do any of this when ABC’s George Stephanopoulos asked him about that. It has been made obvious that this current administration’s agenda for the United States moving forward is the expansion of the Monroe Doctrine, a unilateral doctrine imposed on Latin America by the US in 1823, and expanded upon in 1904 and again in 2025, by the Trump White House.
Great and clarifying piece. These people are not only anti-democratic, but insane.
Only white male millionaires at the table.