NBC News: How soon will elections be held in Venezuela? Within 30 days?

Rubio: Elections? I think it is premature at this point.

Marco Rubio:

All of the problems we had with Maduro when Maduro was there. We still have those problems in terms of them needing to be addressed.

We are going to give people an opportunity to address those challenges and those problems. Until they address it, they will continue to face this oil quarantine.

They will continue to face pressure from the United States. We will continue to target drug boats if they try to run towards the United States.

We will continue to seize the the boats that are sanctioned with court orders.

We will continue to do that and potentially other things until the things we need to see addressed are addressed.

Marco Rubio:

There's not a war. We are at war against drug trafficking organizations — not a war against Venezuela.

NBC News: Who’s going to run Venezuela? So is it you? Is it Secretary Hegseth?

Rubio: Well, it’s not about “running” the country in that sense. It’s about policy.

We want Venezuela to move in a certain direction.

Rubio to Venezuela’s new leader:

You cannot turn Venezuela into an operating hub for Iran, for Russia, for Hezbollah, for China, or for Cuban intelligence agents. That cannot continue.

You cannot have the largest oil reserves in the world under the control of adversaries of the United States.

Rubio on Venezuela:

We do not need Venezuela’s oil. We have plenty of oil in the United States.

What we are not going to allow is for the oil industry in Venezuela to be controlled by adversaries of the United States.

You have to understand: why does China need Venezuela’s oil? Why does Russia need it? Why does Iran need it? They’re not even in this continent.

Rubio:

Why have 8 million people left Venezuela? Eight million — the single largest mass migration probably in modern history — left Venezuela since 2014 because all the wealth of that country was stolen to the benefit of Maduro and his cronies in the regime, but not to the benefit of the people of Venezuela.

You know how destabilizing 8 million migrants is? Do you know the number one fear that Brazil has, that Colombia has, that all these countries in the region have about what’s happening in Venezuela and our involvement? They’re afraid of another mass migration event.

That’s what they fear. This is deeply destabilizing stuff.

Rubio:

The Cuban government is a huge problem. They are in a lot of trouble. I don’t think it is any mystery that we are not big fans of the Cuban regime.

Rubio:

The ones who have sort of colonized Venezuela, at least inside the regime, are Cubans. It was Cubans that guarded Maduro.

He was not guarded by Venezuelan bodyguards. He had Cuban bodyguards.

In terms of their internal intelligence — who spies on who inside to make sure there are no traitors — those are all Cubans.

Rubio:

Venezuela looks nothing like Libya, Iraq, Afghanistan, or the Middle East — other than the Iranian agents running through there plotting against America.

These are Western countries. People need to stop ascribing apples to oranges.

Rubio on Venezuela:

This was not an action that required congressional approval... This was not an invasion or an extended military operation.

Rubio:

We will seek congressional approval for actions that require congressional approval.

Otherwise, they'll get congressional notification.

Rubio:

The Biden administration had a $25 million reward for Maduro’s capture.

So we have a reward for his capture, but we’re not going to enforce it? That’s the difference between President Trump and everybody else.

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard in 2019:

When we look throughout history, every time the United States goes into another country and topples a dictator or overthrows a government, the outcome has been disastrous for the people of those countries.

Pushing for the use of military force in this civil conflict will only result in more suffering, more death, and more disaster for the Venezuelan people.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene:

The majority of American fentanyl overdoses and deaths come from Mexico. It is Mexican cartels that are killing Americans.

If this was really about narco-terrorism and about protecting Americans from cartels and drugs being brought into the United States, then the Trump administration would be attacking the Mexican cartels.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene:

Americans also celebrated the “liberation” of the Iraqi people after Saddam Hussein. They celebrated the “liberation” of the Libyan people after Gaddafi.

This is the same Washington playbook that so many of us are sick and tired of—one that does not actually serve the American people, but instead serves big corporations, banks, and oil executives.