Washington, DC [US], January 5 : US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday (local time) took a U-turn on Trump's remark to "run" Venezuela following their military operation in its capital, noting that the President had "always retained optionality."
Rubio, when asked, in an interview with CBS News's Face the Nation, to clarify if there was currently a US occupation in the South American country, said, "The president always retains optionality on anything and on all these matters. He certainly has the ability and the right under the Constitution of the United States to act against imminent and urgent threats against the country."
He added that current measures, including an oil quarantine and large naval deployments, are aimed at pressuring the Venezuelan regime.
"I think what he's pointing to is that this obsession people have about boots and this or that, but he 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 an oil quarantine that allows us to exert tremendous leverage over what happens next," he said.
"I think what you see as a force posture was one of the largest naval deployments in modern history, certainly in the Western Hemisphere, and it is capable of stopping not just drug boats, but stopping any of these sanctioned boats that come in and out and really paralysing that portion of how the regime generates revenue. So that will continue to be in place," he added.
His remarks come after Washington on Saturday carried out a "large-scale strike against Venezuela", and Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were captured and flown out of the country.
A day earlier, President Donald Trump, while addressing a press conference from Palm Beach, Florida, said the United States will run the country "until such time as we can do a safe, proper, and judicious transition".
He said the US action was aimed at bringing "outlaw dictator Nicolas Maduro to justice".
"We're going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper, and judicious transition. We want peace, justice and liberty for the great people of Venezuela... We can't take a chance if somebody else takes over Venezuela, doesn't have the good of the Venezuelan people in mind. We're not going to let that happen. We are there now, but we are going to stay until such time as a proper transition takes place. We're going to run it essentially until such time," he said.
"We're not afraid of boots on the ground," Trump said.
Maduro and Flores were captured in Caracas and flown out of the country in a joint operation involving intelligence agencies and US law enforcement.
Trump stated that Maduro and his wife have been indicted on charges of alleged "drug trafficking and narco-terrorism conspiracies" in the Southern District of New York and will face trial.