Rubio says the U.S. doesn't need Venezuelan oil but seeks to deny adversaries control over it-and doesn't rule out occupying the country | Fortune

"We're going to have a presence in Venezuela as it pertains to oil,"

"We're going to be taking a tremendous amount of wealth out of the ground."

"We don't need Venezuela's oil. We have plenty of oil in the United States. What we're not going to allow is for the oil industry in Venezuela to be controlled by adversaries of the United States,"

"This is the Western Hemisphere. This is where we live. And we're not going to allow the Western Hemisphere to be a base of operations for adversaries, competitors, and rivals of the United States, simple as that."

President Donald Trump said U.S. oil companies will invest billions to rebuild Venezuela's energy infrastructure and promised a U.S. presence to extract the country's oil wealth. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the United States does not need Venezuela's oil but must prevent Russia, China and Iran from controlling Venezuela's industry and using the Western Hemisphere as a base for rivals. Rubio said Venezuela's oil wealth should benefit the people and blamed Maduro's cronies for enriching themselves, causing economic collapse and mass exodus. Trump left open military options and suggested U.S. influence over interim leaders.

Read at Fortune