Rubio called talks about elections in Venezuela "premature" and did not rule out troop deployment
Kyiv • UNN
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio believes it is too early to discuss holding elections in Venezuela. He noted that the US oil embargo on Venezuela will remain, and American troops could land.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio believes it is too early to discuss holding elections in Venezuela. At the same time, Rubio indicated that the US oil "quarantine" against Venezuela would remain, and American troops could land, UNN reports with reference to The Hill and The New York Times.
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"All of this, I think, is premature at this point. There's a lot of work to be done here," Rubio said on NBC's Meet the Press.
After American forces captured Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores on Saturday, the country's future is uncertain. Rubio told NBC that while Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado is "fantastic," the US must address short-term problems in the country, such as the flow of drugs and the transport of sanctioned oil, The Hill writes.
US President Donald Trump told reporters on Saturday that the US would "run the country until we can make a safe, proper and reasonable transition," adding that American oil companies would "repair" Venezuela's oil infrastructure. The South American country has the largest oil reserves in the world.
"We don't want to be involved in someone else coming in and we're left with the same situation we've had for the last many, many years," Trump said.
Rubio noted on Sunday that the US would continue its months-long campaign targeting boats allegedly involved in drug trafficking, if necessary.
"Ultimately, above all else, we care about elections, we care about democracy, we care about all of that," he said. "But the most important thing for us is the security, well-being and prosperity of the United States. And that's what we're going to focus on here first."
As The New York Times notes, Rubio also said on Sunday that the Trump administration is maintaining a military "quarantine" around Venezuela to prevent oil tankers from the US sanctions list from entering and leaving the country.
"That remains in effect, and it's a huge lever that will continue to be in effect until we see changes, not only to advance the national interests of the United States, which is number 1, but also for a better future for the people of Venezuela," he said in an interview on CBS News' Face the Nation.
Rubio said that the large US naval forces that Trump has concentrated in the Caribbean Sea near Venezuela in recent months will remain in place to enforce a quasi-blockade to "paralyze that part of how the regime, you know, generates revenue." And he added that Trump could deploy US troops to Venezuela after the recent operation to capture Maduro if it serves American interests.
The president "doesn't feel like he's going to publicly rule out options available to the United States," Rubio said.
Rubio also said that there are currently no plans to send US troops to Venezuela to capture other officials who have also been indicted by the US Department of Justice for drug trafficking, as was done with Maduro in 2020, during the first Trump administration. He said that this was not considered in the planning of the operation to arrest Maduro.
Rubio said the United States plans to ensure that Venezuela stops drug trafficking. The Trump administration last year said that deterring "narco-terrorism" from Venezuela was a key reason for its campaign against the country, including legally questionable military strikes on vessels that killed more than 100 people, the publication notes.
In another interview on Sunday on ABC News' This Week, Rubio said that congressional authorization for the military operation to arrest Maduro was not necessary because it was a "law enforcement operation," not an "invasion." He also said that notifying members of Congress before the operation would have led to leaks of military plans and endangered American soldiers.