The US administration threatens Rodríguez with Maduro-like fate if he fails to comply with its demands

The US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is set to warn Venezuela’s acting president on Wednesday that she will face a fate similar to that of her US-ousted predecessor Nicolas Maduro if she doesn’t comply with US wishes.

According to a prepared testimony, Rubio will tell the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that Delcy Rodriguez, who was a vice president and is now acting president, is fully aware of Maduro’s fate.

“We believe that their personal interests are aligned with the achievement of our main goals,” Rubio added.

“There is no doubt that as the president has stated, we are prepared to use force to ensure maximum cooperation if other means fail,” he said, referring to Trump.

Rubio, agreed to testify before the committee weeks after Democrats accused the Trump administration of misleading Congress and overstepping its authority by force.

US forces raided Caracas on January 3 and arrested Maduro, Washington’s arch-left foe, and his wife, Celia Flores.

The couple was flown to New York to appear in court on drug trafficking charges brought against them by the United States.

In his pre-prepared testimony, Rubio strongly defended the military operation, saying the United States had “arrested two drug traffickers” and called Maduro “a convicted drug dealer and not a legitimate head of state”.

“All of this has been achieved without any loss of American soul or a long-term military occupation,” he said.

“We rarely find in history examples of achieving such a great deal of achievement at the lowest possible cost,” Rubio said.