“If she doesn’t do what’s right, she is going to pay a very big price, probably bigger than Maduro,” he said.
Rodríguez, who was defiant in the aftermath of the US attack, vowing to defend the country’s natural resources and demanding the US free Maduro, struck a more conciliatory tone on Sunday night (Monday AEDT), saying she sought “respectful relations” with the US.
Marco Rubio watches the operation unfold.Credit: AP
“We invite the US government to collaborate with us on an agenda of co-operation oriented towards shared development within the framework of international law to strengthen lasting community co-existence,” Rodríguez wrote in an online post.
Rubio appeared on US TV talk shows to seemingly temper concerns about whether the striking action to achieve regime change in Venezuela might again produce a prolonged foreign intervention or failed attempt at nation-building.
His remarks stood in contrast to Trump’s broad but vague claims that the US would at least temporarily “run” the oil-rich nation, comments that suggested some sort of governing structure under which Caracas would be controlled by Washington.
Rubio offered a more nuanced take, saying the US would continue to enforce an oil quarantine on sanctioned tankers that was in place before Maduro was removed from power and using that leverage as a means to press for policy changes in Venezuela.
“And so that’s the sort of control the president is pointing to when he says that,” Rubio said on CBS’ Face the Nation. “We continue with that quarantine, and we expect to see that there will be changes, not just in the way the oil industry is run for the benefit of the people, but also so that they stop the drug-trafficking.”
The blockade on sanctioned oil tankers – some of which have been seized by the US – “remains in place, and that’s a tremendous amount of leverage that will continue to be in place until we see changes that not just further the national interest of the United States, which is No.1, but also that lead to a better future for the people of Venezuela”, he said.
Trump repeated vow US would ‘run’ Venezuela
Trump’s vow to “run” Venezuela, repeated more than half a dozen times at a news conference in Florida on Saturday, and again on Sunday, sparked concerns among some Democrats.
It also drew unease from parts of his own Republican coalition, including an “America First” base that is opposed to foreign interventions, and from observers who recalled past nation-building efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
A damaged apartment complex that neighbours say was hit during US strikes to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on Saturday.Credit: AP
Rubio dismissed such criticism, saying that Trump’s intent had been misunderstood by a “foreign policy establishment” that was fixated on the Middle East.
“The whole foreign policy apparatus thinks everything is Libya, everything is Iraq, everything is Afghanistan,” Rubio said. “This is not the Middle East. And our mission here is very different. This is the Western hemisphere.”
Rubio also suggested the US would give Maduro’s subordinates time to govern, saying, “we’re going to judge everything by what they do, and we’re going to see what they do”.
A Venezuelan soldier stands atop an armoured vehicle driving towards Caracas on Sunday.Credit: AP
While he did not rule out a US military presence in Venezuela, Rubio said the current US “force posture” was capable of stopping drug boats and sanctioned tankers.
A day earlier, Trump said, “we’re going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition”.
He later pointed to his national security team with him, including Rubio and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, and said it would be done for a period of time by “the people that are standing right behind me. We’re gonna be running it, we’re gonna be bringing it back”.
Despite Rubio’s seeking to tamp down that notion, Trump reiterated on Sunday (Monday AEDT) that the US would control Venezuela, saying, “we’re going to run everything”.
“We’re going to run it, fix it,” he said, adding “we’ll have elections at the right time” without saying when that might be.
Maduro’s arrival
Maduro landed late on Saturday afternoon (Sunday AEDT) at a small airport in New York City’s northern suburbs following the middle-of-the-night operation that extracted him and his wife, Cilia Flores, from their home on a military base in Caracas – an act that Maduro’s government called “imperialist”.
The couple faces US charges of participating in a narco-terrorism conspiracy.
Nicolas Maduro being “perp walked” by Drug Enforcement Administration officers in New York.Credit: X@PaulDMauro
The dramatic seizure of the Maduros capped an intensive Trump administration pressure campaign on Venezuela’s autocratic leader and months of secret planning, resulting in the most assertive American action to achieve regime change since the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Legal experts raised questions about the lawfulness of the operation, which was done without congressional approval.
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After arriving at the airport, Maduro was flown by helicopter to Manhattan, where a convoy of law enforcement vehicles, including an armoured car, was waiting to whisk him to a nearby US Drug Enforcement Administration office.
A video posted on social media by a White House account showed Maduro, smiling, as he was escorted through that office by two DEA agents grasping his arms.
Maduro and other Venezuelan officials were indicted in 2020 on narco-terrorism conspiracy charges, and the Justice Department released a new indictment on Saturday of Maduro and his wife that painted his administration as a “corrupt, illegitimate government” fuelled by a drug-trafficking operation that flooded the US with cocaine. Maduro is charged with narco-terrorism, cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices. He faces decades to life in prison on each count if convicted.
A supporter of Maduro stands on a median strip waving a national flag in Caracas on Saturday.Credit: AP
The US government does not recognise Maduro as the country’s leader.
The Trump administration spent months building up American forces in the region and carrying out attacks on boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean for allegedly ferrying drugs. Last week, the CIA was behind a drone strike at a docking area believed to have been used by Venezuelan drug cartels – the first known direct operation on Venezuelan soil since the US campaign began in September.
Quiet falls in Venezuela after US operation
Venezuela’s capital remained unusually quiet on Sunday, with few vehicles moving around and convenience stores, petrol stations and other businesses closed. A road typically filled with runners, cyclists and other fitness enthusiasts on Sundays had only a handful of people working out the day after Maduro was deposed.
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The presidential palace was guarded by armed civilians and members of the military. A large part of Maduro’s security team was killed in the US raid, Venezuelan Defence Minister General Vladimir Padrino said, adding that armed forces had been activated across the country to guarantee sovereignty.
Cuba announced that 32 Cuban security officers were killed in the US operation, which Trump acknowledged: “You know, a lot of Cubans were killed yesterday.”
“There was a lot of death on the other side,” Trump said aboard Air Force One as he flew back to Washington from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. “No death on our side.”
At a nearby plaza, only a street sweeper and a soldier stood, and across the street, a church remained closed for a second day in a row.
Caracas resident David Leal arrived at the car park where he works only to quickly realise that he would probably not see any clients for a second day.
“People are still shaken,” Leal said.
Reuters, AP
