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Following the abduction of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro on Saturday, United States President Donald Trump said Washington would “run” the Latin American country until a transition was complete, but a day later, his top diplomat said the US does not want to govern the country.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Sunday that the US is not at war with Venezuela, while on the same day, Trump told reporters that he might order a second strike if Venezuela does not cooperate with the US to clamp down on drug trafficking and open up its oil industry.
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The Department of Justice on Monday quietly dropped a claim that Cartel de los Soles, or Cartel of the Suns, was an actual drug trafficking group. Last year, the US designated it as a “terrorist” group. The Trump administration built its case against Maduro, asserting that he was its leader.
In December, the US had accused Venezuela of trafficking fentanyl, dubbing it a “weapon of mass destruction”. However, when the charges were announced against Maduro on Monday, fentanyl was not mentioned.
US Vice President JD Vance had on Sunday still insisted that some fentanyl did originate from Venezuela.
Analysts have pointed out confusing messaging coming from the Trump administration regarding the aim behind the brazen operation and how to move forward. Experts have also questioned the legality of the operation that saw the reported killing of at least 40 people.
The Trump administration insists Maduro’s abduction was legal and that the Maduro government is not legitimate.
In the meantime, Maduro’s deputy, Delcy Rodriguez, who was sworn in as Venezuela’s interim president on Monday, has expressed eagerness to collaborate with the US.
At the moment, the question of who will govern Venezuela is hanging in the balance. There are some key differences in what Trump and Rubio have said.
What has Rubio said?
Rubio spoke to multiple news outlets on Sunday and Monday, as he defended the US actions and spelled out the reasoning behind the operation that has been condemned by the United Nations Security Council.
In an interview with Kristen Welker of NBC’s Meet the Press, Rubio said: “We are at war against drug trafficking organisations. That’s not a war against Venezuela.”
The seizure of “drug boats” will continue, he said, referring to the dozens of strikes on vessels near the Venezuelan coast since September that have killed more than 100 people.
“No more drug trafficking … and no more using the oil industry to enrich all our adversaries around the world and not benefitting the people of Venezuela or, frankly, benefitting the United States and the region,” Rubio told NBC on Sunday.
Additionally, Rubio told NBC that the US does not need Venezuelan oil and has plenty of its own oil. “What we’re not going to allow is for the oil industry in Venezuela to be controlled by adversaries of the United States,” he said, naming Russia, Iran and China.
“This is the Western Hemisphere. This is where we live. And we’re not going to allow the Western Hemisphere to be a base of operations for adversaries, competitors, and rivals of the United States, simple as that.”
Rubio told NBC’s Welker that since 2014, about eight million Venezuelans have fled the country, driven by the systematic theft and mismanagement of the country’s oil wealth by Maduro and his inner circle, instead of it being used to benefit the Venezuelan people. He said the migration was “destabilising” the region.
According to a report by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees updated in May 2025, nearly 7.9 million people have left Venezuela. Analysts point out that the punitive US sanctions played a significant role in the collapse of Venezuela’s economy, which worsened the migrant crisis.
Rubio on Sunday reiterated that the US will continue to enforce an existing “oil quarantine”.
“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,” Rubio told a local news outlet.
Accusations that Venezuela is the main source of drugs entering the US are false, experts say.
What has Trump said?
Rubio’s recent statements differ from what Trump has said about Venezuela.
While Rubio said the US does not want to govern Venezuela and is not interested in its oil, Trump suggested different ideas a day earlier.
During a news conference on Saturday, Trump said the US would “run” Venezuela until a “safe, proper and judicious transition” could be carried out.
Trump added that US oil companies would fix Venezuela’s “broken infrastructure” and “start making money for the country”.
So what’s the plan?
Elvira Dominguez-Redondo, a professor of international law at Kingston University in the United Kingdom, told Al Jazeera that there is no basis to comment on whether Washington has a coherent plan.
“From the outside, it is impossible to know what the next steps of the US will be, particularly given the contradictory public statements coming from senior figures.”
She added: “What I can say, based on observable facts, is that there is no full-scale military invasion or formal assumption of governmental authority by the US. What appears to have occurred instead is the removal of Maduro while allowing the rest of the governing apparatus to remain in place, under conditions that are not publicly known. Whether and how this was negotiated is unclear.”
Dominguez-Redondo said the US cannot legally invade and govern Venezuela, since this would amount to occupation under international law.
What’s the latest political situation in Venezuela?
Sworn in as the interim leader on Monday, Rodriguez, 56, told the National Assembly, “I come with pain over the kidnapping of two heroes who are being held hostage: President Nicolas Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores.”
“I swear to work tirelessly to guarantee the peace, spiritual, economic and social tranquillity of our people.”
A day earlier, she had offered to work with Trump and sought “respectful relations” in a conciliatory message.
“We invite the US government to collaborate with us on an agenda of cooperation oriented towards shared development within the framework of international law to strengthen lasting community coexistence,” Rodriguez wrote on social media.
“President Donald Trump, our peoples and our region deserve peace and dialogue, not war.”
On Saturday, Rodriguez had appeared on state television alongside her brother, National Assembly chief Jorge Rodriguez, Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello and Defence Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez, declaring that Maduro was still Venezuela’s sole legitimate president.
Who are the key leaders in Venezuela’s Chavista government?
The key leaders shaping Venezuela’s next political chapter include acting President Rodriguez, who was part of Maduro’s inner circle. Her brother Jorge is also an important leader.
The other key leaders include Interior Minister Cabello – considered powerful in the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela – and Defence Minister Lopez.
When asked what action the Venezuelan government and the military could take against any US intervention, Kingston University’s Dominguez-Redondo said, “In practical terms, very little.”
“If the Venezuelan military were capable of mounting a meaningful response, it would likely have done so already.”
She pointed out how the US involvement in Venezuela did not begin with the abduction of Maduro, but with attacks on boats in Venezuelan waters that the US alleged were carrying drugs.
“These were Venezuelan boats, and even if they were engaged in trafficking, the killings were extrajudicial executions. From a legal perspective, those incidents could have been characterised as an armed attack, potentially triggering a right of self-defence by Venezuela.
“Yet Venezuela did not respond militarily and limited itself to condemnation. The escalation then continued through the seizure of Venezuelan oil, and finally, the capture of Maduro. The sequence strongly suggests that the Venezuelan military lacks the capacity to respond effectively.”
Dominguez-Redondo added that it is also unlikely that other countries will take action against the US involvement in Venezuela.
“The only body capable of imposing sanctions that are legally binding on all states is the UNSC. However, this body cannot act against the US as a permanent member with veto power. As a result, there is no credible mechanism capable of constraining the US in the short term.”
Venezuela also has Colectivos, which are decentralised, pro-government armed civilian groups with multiple individual leaders.
Who are the main opposition leaders?
On Saturday, Trump ruled out the possibility of working with opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado, saying Machado does not have enough support in Venezuela.
Machado, seen as the most credible adversary of Maduro’s left-wing government, is a member of the Venezuelan National Assembly and a free-market advocate. She fled the country last month.
Another prominent opposition leader is Edmundo Gonzalez, who ran against Maduro in the 2024 election after Machado was barred from running. He is currently based in Spain after fleeing Venezuela in September 2024 following an arrest warrant.
After Maduro, who might be next?
After Maduro’s abduction, Trump threatened military action against his Colombian counterpart, Gustavo Petro, adding he believed the government in Cuba, too, was likely to fall soon.
On Sunday, Trump told reporters on board Air Force One that Venezuela and Colombia were “very sick” and called Petro “a sick man who likes making cocaine and selling it to the United States”.
“And he’s not going to be doing it very long. Let me tell you.”
When asked if he meant a US operation against Colombia, Trump said, “Sounds good to me.”
Petro retorted in a series of posts on X on Sunday, saying he would “take up arms” for his country if necessary.
“I have enormous trust in my people,” he said. “And that is why I have asked the people to defend the president from any illegitimate violent act against him.”
