Secretary of State Marco Rubio says removing Nicolás Maduro from power was never meant to be the end of Venezuela's crisis, but the beginning of a long and difficult rebuilding process. Rubio's comments come months after U.S. forces captured Maduro in a January operation that ended his 25-year grip on Venezuela — and as his administration now faces mounting scrutiny over what comes next.
How Maduro's Rule Ended
On January 3, 2026, U.S. forces captured Maduro following airstrikes on Caracas and other Venezuelan cities, capping a months-long standoff between Washington and the Venezuelan leader. Maduro has since been held in federal custody in Brooklyn. In his place, former Vice President Delcy RodrÃguez has served as interim president, a decision that has itself become a point of controversy, since many Venezuelans and members of the country's opposition movement expected a transition toward the winner of Venezuela's 2024 election rather than a handover to a longtime Maduro ally.
Rubio's Three-Phase Plan
Rubio has repeatedly described the U.S. strategy as a three-phase plan: stabilization, recovery, and transition. He has said the first priority after Maduro's capture was preventing Venezuela from sliding into civil war, mass migration, or civil unrest. Speaking to reporters, Rubio pushed back on suggestions that the administration lacked a coherent plan for what would follow Maduro's removal, insisting the strategy was deliberate rather than improvised.
As of this summer, Rubio says Venezuela has moved into the second phase, focused on economic recovery. That includes a U.S.-backed effort to sell an estimated 30 to 50 million barrels of Venezuelan oil that had been stuck in the country under sanctions, with Rubio stating the proceeds would be controlled to benefit the Venezuelan people rather than the old regime or corrupt actors. Rubio has said the final phase, transition, would only follow once reconciliation is achieved among Venezuela's long-divided political factions — something he has cautioned will take real time after more than a quarter-century of entrenched authoritarian rule.
An Earthquake Has Complicated the Recovery Phase
Venezuela's rebuilding effort has been further strained by a natural disaster. On June 24, 2026, two major earthquakes, measuring 7.1 and 7.5 in magnitude, struck the country, killing more than 5,000 people and prompting RodrÃguez to declare a national emergency. Rubio has acknowledged the earthquakes added an unforeseen layer of difficulty to a recovery process that was already expected to take years.
Political Controversy Over the Plan
Rubio's roadmap has drawn criticism from multiple directions in Washington. Congressional Democrats who attended classified briefings on the administration's Venezuela strategy said they came away without a clear sense of the details, with one senator saying the briefing offered no specific plan. Some lawmakers and outside critics have also argued the administration moved far faster to capture Maduro militarily than it has to define what a legitimate political transition would actually look like.
A separate line of criticism centers on the opposition's role in the process. Venezuela's opposition movement, led by Maria Corina Machado, won broad recognition after the 2024 election, including from the U.S. government at the time. Critics argue that installing RodrÃguez, a Maduro-era insider, as interim president rather than empowering the recognized opposition undercuts the democratic transition Rubio says is the ultimate goal, and that the administration's early focus on securing oil agreements has taken priority over supporting the opposition. The administration disputes that characterization, framing its approach as a necessary and deliberate sequencing rather than a retreat from democratic goals.
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What a Genuine Transition Would Require
Independent of the political debate, most assessments of Venezuela's path forward point to similar structural needs: functioning electoral institutions, credible voter rolls, freedom for political parties and media, and international monitoring to ensure any eventual election is seen as legitimate both inside and outside Venezuela. Rubio has echoed this, framing national reconciliation among Venezuela's rival political factions as a prerequisite for elections rather than something that can be organized around a fixed deadline.
Why This Matters Beyond Venezuela
Venezuela's future carries regional weight. Millions of Venezuelans have left the country over the past decade amid economic collapse and political repression, straining neighboring countries' borders, housing, and labor markets. A stabilized, economically functioning Venezuela could ease that pressure and open new energy and trade relationships across Latin America; continued instability, by contrast, risks prolonging the humanitarian and migration crisis that has already reshaped the region.
FAQ
Is Maduro still in power in Venezuela?
No. U.S. forces captured Maduro on January 3, 2026, and he has been held in federal custody in Brooklyn since. Former Vice President Delcy RodrÃguez is serving as interim president.
What is Rubio's three-phase plan for Venezuela?
Rubio describes it as stabilization, recovery, and transition — beginning with preventing unrest and mass migration, moving to economic recovery including oil sales, and eventually reaching a democratic transition once political reconciliation is achieved.
What phase is Venezuela in now?
As of mid-2026, Rubio says the country has moved into the recovery phase, though the June earthquakes have complicated that effort.
Why are Democrats criticizing the plan?
Some lawmakers who attended classified briefings said the administration did not present a detailed roadmap for governing Venezuela after Maduro's removal.
What happened to Venezuela's opposition movement?
Despite winning broad recognition after the 2024 election, opposition leader Maria Corina Machado's movement has largely been sidelined in the current transition, with critics arguing the administration has prioritized oil agreements with regime-linked officials instead.
Sparrow World News will continue following developments involving Venezuela, U.S. foreign policy, and Latin America.