Rep. Zinke to Newsmax: US Actions With Venezuela 'Not About Oil'

U.S. actions involving Venezuela are "not about oil," but about limiting the influence of American adversaries in the hemisphere, Rep. Ryan Zinke said on Newsmax Wednesday.

"It's making sure our adversaries like China, like Russia, like Iran, don't have a foothold of influence in South America," the Montana Republican told on Newsmax's "Newsline."

Zinke, a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said Venezuela has become a staging ground for hostile activity and criminal networks that he said directly affect U.S. security.

"You look at where their influence was," he said. "Venezuela has the largest concentration of Hezbollah and Hamas outside of the Middle East, and they are actively conducting operations against the United States. They were involved in the drug operation."

He said the U.S. has a responsibility to respond, framing the approach as both a national security obligation and a regional one.

"So, yeah, we have an obligation to defend our country, and we have an obligation under the Monroe Doctrine to work with our allies," Zinke said.

While emphasizing the security rationale, Zinke also said the strategy includes controlling Venezuelan oil assets and placing them into an account intended to support the country's recovery.

"The purpose is to make sure those oil assets go into [an] account, and then they're distributed to help Venezuela rebuild," he said. "Now, again, we don't come as a conqueror. We come as a liberator."

Zinke said he believes Venezuelans have been "suffering" and argued the proceeds should be directed toward rebuilding the nation and supporting democratic governance.

"But also Maduro robbed the Venezuelan people,” he said. "We want to make sure those resources go into an account, and then they're distributed and make sure we support democracy, and we support Venezuela rebuilding its society."

He described the plan as a coordinated effort to deny access to those assets while directing them toward the Venezuelan public.

"So I think this is an overall strategy," Zinke said. "It's the right strategy to make sure we blockade, make sure that we control the oil assets and they go to serve the people of Venezuela."

Zinke also said regional support exists for the U.S. action.

"Look, we're not the only ones that support this," he said. "You look at the countries in South America that have confirmed that they supported this operation because they understood exactly what Maduro is and was."

Asked whether Greenland came up in the day's briefing, Zinke said it did not, but he contrasted the situations while calling Greenland strategically important to the U.S. and NATO.

"My cut on Greenland, look, the conditions that set Venezuela [apart] are far different than Greenland," he said.

While Greenland "does not represent a threat to the United States," Zinke added, it remains strategically significant to the United States and NATO, and he questions Denmark's ability to defend it.

Zinke said President Donald Trump maintains flexibility in assessing options.

"The president will never take military force off the table," Zinke said. "That's the president. He looks at all things considered, but he's not going to take one option off the table."

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