Marco Rubio reiterates that the United States will ‘guide’ Venezuela

Just 24 hours after the U.S. completed its direct military intervention known as Operation Absolute Resolution—which resulted in the capture and transfer of Nicolás Maduro to U.S. soil to face federal charges—the focus now shifts to what comes next for Venezuela.

Although opposition leader María Corina Machado emphasized that she expects the will of Venezuelan voters to be respected, pointing to Edmundo González as the country’s rightful leader, President Donald Trump said the United States will “take the lead” during Venezuela’s transition period. The person overseeing that process will be Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has made it clear that Venezuelan political figures will need to make “the right decisions” to align with Washington’s interests.

Rubio Speaks Out in Sunday Interviews

In a series of interviews Sunday afternoon, Rubio addressed the situation. Speaking with NBC News, he said: “There’s no war. I mean, we’re at war with drug‑trafficking organizations, not with Venezuela. We’re enforcing U.S. law when it comes to oil sanctions. We’ve sanctioned certain entities.”

He added that the U.S. will continue to reserve the right to strike drug‑running vessels headed toward American shores if they’re operated by transnational criminal groups, including the Cartel of the Suns.

“Of course, the leader of that cartel is now in U.S. custody and facing justice in the Southern District of New York—and that’s Nicolás Maduro. So we’ve made significant progress on that front.”

Rubio on María Corina Machado

Rubio also addressed the Venezuelan opposition movement: “María Corina Machado is fantastic. I’ve known her for a long time, and the entire movement is extraordinary. But we’re dealing with the immediate reality. And the immediate reality is that, sadly—and unfortunately—the vast majority of the opposition is no longer inside Venezuela.”

The Secretary of State stressed that urgent issues must be handled right away: “We all want to see a bright future for Venezuela, a transition to democracy. That’s wonderful, and we all want it. I’ve worked on this personally for 15 years—first in the Senate, then as National Security Advisor, and now as Secretary of State. These are things that still matter to us.”

He noted that the U.S. is focused on what happens in the next “two or three weeks” and the next “two or three months,” and how those developments align with U.S. national interests.

“That’s why we expect to see more compliance and cooperation than we were getting before.”

“There was no deal to be made with Maduro”

Rubio closed by saying that negotiating with Maduro had become impossible: “There was no agreement or arrangement that could be made with Nicolás Maduro. And for the record, he was offered very generous options. He could have left Venezuela as recently as a week and a half ago. There were opportunities for him to avoid all of this. But now he’s simply not someone we can work with.”

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