{"id":49223,"date":"2026-07-16T12:59:14","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T19:59:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=49223"},"modified":"2026-07-16T12:59:15","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T19:59:15","slug":"unconscionable-and-impeachable-experts-appalled-at-report-of-marco-rubio-acting-as-venezuela-viceroy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2026\/07\/16\/unconscionable-and-impeachable-experts-appalled-at-report-of-marco-rubio-acting-as-venezuela-viceroy\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Unconscionable and impeachable\u2019: experts appalled at report of Marco Rubio acting as Venezuela \u2018viceroy\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Secretary<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Posted in Politics and Movements: International<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTrump has turned Venezuela into an effective US colony,\u201d said one critic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

by\u00a0Brad Reed<\/a><\/strong> July 14, 2026 (therealnews.com)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Secretary of State Marco Rubio (C) looks on as US President Donald Trump meets with China’s President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on May 14, 2026. Photo by Brendan SMIALOWSKI \/ AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Common<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This story originally appeared in Common Dreams on <\/em>July 14, 2026<\/a>.<\/em> It is shared here under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0) license.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some critics of the Trump administration<\/a> are reacting with horror to revelations that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio<\/a> has been serving as the de facto ruler of Venezuela<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to a Saturday report<\/a> in The New York Times<\/a>, Rubio for the last several months has been acting informally as the \u201cviceroy\u201d of Venezuela ever since its recognized president, Nicol\u00e1s Maduro, was abducted by the American military in January and brought to the US to face charges related to \u201cnarco-terrorism<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Times\u2019 sources revealed that Rubio \u201ceffectively controls Venezuela\u2019s finances, the distribution of its natural resources, and its government\u201d and \u201cis deeply involved in the country\u2019s day-to-day operations,\u201d while maintaining regular contact with acting Venezuelan President Delcy Rodr\u00edguez.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under current arrangements, the US Treasury Department takes in revenue from Venezuela\u2019s exports, including its petroleum, and then disperses the money back to the country through its private banks with strict conditions set by Rubio over what it can be spent on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In explaining the system, the Times likened it to \u201cparents handing out allowances to children<\/a>,\u201d adding that it gives Rubio \u201cimmense leverage over\u2026 Rodr\u00edguez, who depends on the money to pay workers<\/a> and prop up the national currency.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elizabeth Saunders, professor of political science<\/a> at Columbia University<\/a>, described<\/a> Rubio\u2019s power over Venezuela as \u201cinsane,\u201d as well as \u201cderelict, unconscionable, and impeachable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe secretary of state\u2019s time is scarce, valuable, and not outsourcable,\u201d Saunders emphasized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Orlando J. P\u00e9rez, professor of Political Science at the University of North Texas<\/a> at Dallas, said the Times report made a mockery of Rubio\u2019s professed claims to want to bring democracy<\/a> back to Venezuela.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt appears Rubio has transformed from democracy promotion warrior,\u201d P\u00e9rez commented<\/a>, \u201cto transactional realpolitik operative!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kenneth Roth, former executive director at Human Rights<\/a> Watch, wrote<\/a> that US control over Venezuela appeared similar to the kind of imperial power wielded by European nations in the 19th Century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTrump has turned Venezuela into an effective US colony,\u201d said Roth, \u201cwith Marco Rubio as the viceroy and Washington<\/a> controlling the country\u2019s oil<\/a> revenue and dictating major foreign and domestic policies. Democracy has been relegated to the distant future.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bradley Simpson, historian at the University of Connecticut, also saw the current US arrangement with Venezuela as a return to overt imperialism<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are literally back in the Dollar Diplomacy days of the 1910s,\u201d Simpson wrote<\/a>, \u201cwhen the United States<\/a> invaded countries and took over their financial systems and ran them as effective colonies. Flagrantly illegal, enormously corrupt. Where is the organization of American states or UN in denouncing this?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Real News Network<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Independent \u00b7 Nonprofit \u00b7 Nonpartisan<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The journalism that
refuses<\/em>\u00a0to be
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people like you.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Donate Now \u2192<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump should foot the bill for rebuilding Venezuela after earthquake disaster<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Tagged:<\/strong>article<\/a>, oil<\/a>, Reprint<\/a>, Trump<\/a>, venezuela<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brad Reed<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Brad Reed is a staff writer for Common Dreams.More by Brad Reed<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Posted in Politics and Movements: International \u201cTrump has turned Venezuela into an effective US colony,\u201d said one critic. by\u00a0Brad Reed July 14, 2026 (therealnews.com) Secretary of State Marco Rubio (C) looks on as US President Donald Trump meets with China’s President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1880],"tags":[2210,2209],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49223"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49223"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49223\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49224,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49223\/revisions\/49224"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49223"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49223"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49223"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}