US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday said that the United States does not intend to take on the day-to-day governance of Venezuela, seeking to clarify President Donald Trump’s assertion that Washington would be “running” the oil-rich country following the ouster of President Nicolás Maduro.

Rubio’s remarks came a day after Trump’s comments triggered political unease in Washington and revived memories of prolonged US interventions abroad. Speaking on television talk shows, Rubio stressed that America’s role would remain limited and focused, primarily centred on enforcing an existing “oil quarantine” on Venezuela.

Oil Quarantine To Remain Core Lever

According to Rubio, the United States will continue enforcing restrictions on sanctioned Venezuelan oil shipments, a policy that was already in place before Maduro was removed from power early Saturday. He said the quarantine is intended to pressure those now in control in Caracas to bring reforms, rather than signal any attempt at nation-building.

Rubio explained that the enforcement includes monitoring and, in some cases, seizing sanctioned oil tankers. He described this approach as a powerful source of leverage to push for changes in how Venezuela’s oil industry operates and to curb drug trafficking networks allegedly linked to the previous regime. “This is the sort of control the president is referring to,” Rubio said, adding that Washington expects the pressure to lead to changes that benefit the Venezuelan people while also advancing US national interests.

Walking Back ‘Running Venezuela’ Claim

Trump’s repeated statement that the US would “run” Venezuela, made several times during a Florida news conference on Saturday, drew criticism from Democrats and concern from parts of his own Republican base, particularly supporters of the “America First” agenda who oppose foreign entanglements.

Rubio sought to defuse those concerns, arguing that Trump’s remarks were being interpreted through what he called an outdated foreign policy lens. He rejected comparisons with past US interventions in Iraq, Afghanistan or Libya, saying the situation in Venezuela is fundamentally different. “This is not the Middle East. This is the Western Hemisphere,” Rubio said, underlining that Washington has no plans to administer Venezuela or impose a long-term governing structure.

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Vance Addresses Fentanyl Debate

Addressing the criticism, US Vice President JD Vance said Venezuela should not be dismissed as irrelevant to the drug crisis simply because fentanyl dominates overdose statistics. He argued that cocaine trafficking through Venezuela remains a major source of funding for Latin American cartels.

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“First off, fentanyl isn’t the only drug in the world and there is still fentanyl coming from Venezuela (or at least there was)," he said. “Cocaine, which is the main drug trafficked out of Venezuela, is a profit centre for all of the Latin America cartels. If you cut out the money from cocaine (or even reduce it) you substantially weaken the cartels overall. Also, cocaine is bad too!" he added. He further said “I understand the anxiety over the use of military force, but are we just supposed to allow a communist to steal our stuff in our hemisphere and do nothing? Great powers don’t act like that. The United States, thanks to President Trump’s leadership, is a great power again. Everyone should take note."


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