Marco Rubio Discusses the Legal Basis for US Military Actions Against Venezuela

U.S. Military Action in Venezuela

During a heated conversation on Sunday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told George Stephanopoulos on “This Week” that a recent court order to seize sanctioned ships backed the U.S. military mission against Venezuela.

In a surprising announcement early Saturday, President Donald Trump revealed that American forces, including the elite Delta Force unit, apprehended Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and forced him and his wife to leave the nation. Stephanopoulos sought clarification from Rubio regarding the legitimacy of this operation.

“Essentially, we’re quarantining their oil, which means their economy is stuck until certain conditions, beneficial for both the U.S. and the Venezuelan citizens, are met. That’s really our goal,” Rubio explained.

He continued, “Regarding our legal standing for this quarantine, we have a court order. These are sanctioned vessels, and we have the authority to track and seize them… Isn’t that what a court order provides?”

Stephanopoulos then questioned, “So does that mean the United States now governs Venezuela?”

Rubio reiterated, “I’ve mentioned this before, but I’ll say it again. This is our approach moving forward. We have some leverage here, and we intend to use it. We’re already beginning to see limits on storage capacity. If changes aren’t made soon, they’ll need to start extracting oil in a few weeks,” he said. He further stated, “Because of our control over the shipping fleet, we can seize any sanctioned ship headed to or from Venezuela or those aimed at retrieving oil. We have court orders against each vessel.”

At a press conference on the operation to detain Maduro, Trump asserted that the United States was effectively “running” Venezuela and indicated that Rubio, Army Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Cain would oversee matters there.

“As long as those in power in Venezuela fail to implement changes that serve the interests of both their people and those of the United States, this system will persist,” Rubio noted.