Rubio's Venezuela Oil Deal Stance Strains Latin American Support

A statesman once celebrated for his unwavering opposition to authoritarian rule in Venezuela now travels through South America as the face of a policy that trades that opposition for oil. Secretary of State Marco Rubio's diplomatic tour through Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru arrives weighted with contradiction — the same governments that trusted Washington's resolve on Venezuela must now reckon with the possibility that economic interest has quietly displaced principle. It is an old story in the long history of great powers and their smaller partners: the moment when an ally discovers that solida