Rubio remains vague on transition plan for Venezuela

In the wake of the U.S.’s capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday made it clear that it is somewhat unclear what’s next for the Latin American country.

In multiple interviews, Rubio emphasized that the U.S. is not at war with Venezuela but stopped short of explaining exactly what the U.S. role in the country will look like as both nations reel from Maduro’s arrest — and in the aftermath of President Donald Trump’s statement Saturday that the U.S. would “run” Venezuela for an indeterminate time.

“We are at war against drug trafficking organizations, not at war against Venezuela,” Rubio told NBC’s “Meet the Press.” Rubio added that oil sanctions will remain in place, and the U.S. reserves the right to issue strikes against alleged drug boats heading toward America.

But while Rubio told CBS’s “Face the Nation” that the U.S. is not occupying Venezuela, he did not reject the idea that it could be a future option from the Trump administration.

Trump, Rubio said, “does not feel like he is going to publicly rule out options that are available for the United States, even though that’s not what you’re seeing right now,”

“What you’re seeing right now is a quarantine that allows us to exert tremendous leverage over what happens next,” he added.

Trump announced that the U.S. had captured Maduro and his wife in a “large-scale strike” early Saturday. Rubio on Sunday repeatedly deflected about the legality of the capture on ABC’s “This Week,” while he told NBC that congressional approval for the operation was unnecessary because the arrest was not a military mission.

“This was not an invasion. This was not an extended military operation. This was a very precise operation that involved a couple of hours of action,” Rubio said.

Still, the administration’s actions have prompted Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) to say he will force a vote on a war powers resolution to block further military action against Venezuela without congressional approval.

Rubio appeared unperturbed about the vote, telling NBC’s Kristen Welker that the administration will only seek congressional approval for actions that require it.

“Otherwise, they will get congressional notifications,” he added.

Following Maduro’s ousting, Trump on Saturday said the U.S. would take control of the country. Rubio — along with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair Gen. Dan “Razin” Caine — would be among those in charge of Venezuela.

But Rubio on Sunday argued that the U.S. isn’t controlling Venezuela — just Venezuelan policy.

“We want Venezuela to move in a certain direction, because not only do we think it’s good for the people of Venezuela, it’s in our national interest,” Rubio said. “The goal of the policy is to see changes in Venezuela that are beneficial to the United States, first and foremost, because that’s who we work for.”

Still, it remains unclear exactly how long the U.S. will maintain control over the Latin American country and what form that control will take. When pressed on if the White House has some idea of a transition plan in place for Venezuela, Rubio bristled.

“There has to be a little realism here,” Rubio told CBS’ Margaret Brennan. “They’ve had the system of Chavismo in place for 15 or 16 years, and everyone’s asking why 24 hours after Nicolás Maduro was arrested there isn’t an election scheduled for tomorrow? There’s a process.” Chavismo is a left-wing political ideology implemented by former Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez.

Rubio said that “of course” the administration wants Venezuela to be “a place completely different” than it is today but added that there is no expectation “that’s going to happen in the next 15 hours.”

Though the U.S. cares about democracy and elections, Rubio told NBC: “The No. 1 thing we care about is the safety, security, well-being and prosperity of the United States.”