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Secretary of State Marco Rubio says America is at war "against drug trafficking organizations," not Venezuela, a day after US strikes on the country.
President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, First Lady Cilia Flores, were captured during Saturday's attacks.
Maduro is being held in a New York prison and faces drug trafficking charges. He has previously denied being the leader of a drug cartel.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is speaking to some US media. He was on NBC, where he was asked if the US is at war with Venezuela. "This is not a war with Venezuela. I mean we are at war against drug trafficking organizations," the US Secretary of State said.
He says the seizure of ships "bringing drugs to the United States" will continue.
Rubio is asked if he thinks Interim President Delcy Rodríguez is now the legitimate president of Venezuela.
He says that "this has nothing to do with the legitimate president," as the US does not believe that the regime in the country is legitimate.
Rubio says he understands that in Venezuela today there are people "who are the ones who can make changes."
But he says this is different from recognizing the legitimacy of the Venezuelan government, which will come from a period of transition and elections.
Asked about the statement made by Venezuela's interim president, Delcy Rodríguez, Secretary of State Marco Rubio says the US will not judge by what is said in the statements, but by the actions that are taken.
He says the US will react based on what Venezuela does, seeing if the "drugs" stop coming and if the "migration patterns" change.
He says that these are among the issues that America wants to address and that they will be how the US will judge the situation.
Meanwhile, in an interview with ABC, Marco Rubio was asked why congressional authorization was not sought before the US operation in Venezuela. Rubio says "it wasn't necessary because this wasn't an invasion."
He describes it as a "law enforcement operation" and says Maduro was "arrested on the spot by FBI agents."
You can't notify Congress about such an operation because "information will leak," he adds.
He also says that "all kinds of conditions" must match, such as weather and the movements of individuals.
He was asked who is in charge of Venezuela and whether he is running the country.
The secretary says the US "expects to see changes in Venezuela," with the "most immediate" being those "in the US national interest."
He describes a country where "people at the top of the army and police openly collaborate with drug trafficking organizations."
Rubio says these are threats to the US, for which his government intends to "use every element of influence."
Rubio told NBC that he expects to "see more compliance and cooperation from Venezuela."
He says that, with Nicolás Maduro, the US "could not make a deal or an arrangement" despite making "very generous offers", adding that Maduro "could have left Venezuela just a week and a half ago".
"There was a chance he could have avoided all of this," he says.
The secretary of state says the US will give Venezuela "an opportunity to address the problems" raised by the Trump administration.
Until then, Rubio says, Venezuela will continue to face oil quarantines, pressure from the US, and will have "drug ships" targeted and seized when necessary.
Deklarata e Rubios mbeshtetet tek fabula e vjeter e Ezopit Ujku dhe qengji. Ne se veprime te tilla quhen normale, si duhet te quhet sovraniteti e lirite e popujve? Ai eshte vertet dictator e mut muti, por ku gjendet e drejta e Trumpit te perdor dhunen vecse tek fakti se qengji edhe pse pinte uje poshte ujkut, I turbullonte ujin.