Secretary Marco Rubio just came out swinging in his opening testimony during the Senate hearing on Venezuela

“We have in our hemisphere a regime operated by an indicted narco trafficker that became a base of operation for virtually every competitor, adversary and enemy in the world.”

“It was for Iran, their primary spot of operation in the Western hemisphere was Venezuela. For Russia, their primary base of operation in the Western hemisphere, along with Cuba and Nicaragua, was Venezuela.”

“In the case of China, China was receiving oil at $20 a barrel discount and they weren’t even paying money for it. It was being used to pay down debt they were owed. This is the oil of the people of Venezuela, and it was being given to the Chinese as barter at a $20 discount per barrel in some cases.”

“And so you had, three of our primary opponents in the world operating from our hemisphere, from that spot.”

“It was also a place where you had a narco trafficking regime that openly cooperated with the FARC and the ELN and other drug trafficking organizations using their national territory.”

“It was an enormous strategic risk for the United States, not halfway around the world, not in another continent, but in the hemisphere in which we all live.”

“It was an untenable situation and it had to be addressed.”