Rubio explains how U.S. might ‘run’ Venezuela after Maduros’ ouster

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday appeared to backtrack on President Donald Trump‘s claim that the U.S. will “run” Venezuela after U.S. forces on Saturday captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and hauled him to the U.S.

Asked for details on how the U.S. plans to run Venezuela, Rubio said the U.S. would use leverage gained from its oil blockade on the country and regional military buildup to achieve its policy aims. He did not say the U.S. would directly govern Venezuela.

The U.S. in recent months has seized tankers associated with the country and moved military ships and warplanes into the Caribbean.

“What’s going to happen here is we have a quarantine on their oil, that means their economy will not be able to move forward until the conditions that are in the national interest of the United States and the interests of the Venezuelan people are met, and that’s what we intend to do,” Rubio said on ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos.”

“That leverage remains, that leverage is ongoing and we expect that it’s going to lead to results here,” Rubio said.

Trump said on Saturday said the U.S. would “run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition.”

The comments sparked a firestorm of criticism from Trump’s adversaries and some allies, who warned against a nation-building exercise in Venezuela.

“We have learned through the years when America tries to do regime change and nation building in this way, the American people pay the price in both blood and dollars,” Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said on ABC on Sunday.

Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez was sworn in as president following Maduro’s capture. Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, arrived in New York on Saturday night to face charges related to drug trafficking.