This is where we live: Rubio says US wont allow Russia, China, Iran foothold in Western Hemisphere

New Delhi: The United States will not take a day-to-day role in governing Venezuela, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Sunday, seeking to clarify President Donald Trump's earlier comments that the US would "run" the country after the capturing and putting on trial Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

Rubio in an interview to NBC news on Sunday asserted that the US won't let Western Hemisphere to be a "base of operation" for American adversaries, competitors, and rivals.

"We don't need to for the purpose of backup, we have plenty of oil. But what we are not going to allow is the oil industry of Venezuela to be run by adversaries of the United States," he said while questioning the rationale behind China, Russia and Iran's involvement in the Venezuelan oil industry.

"You have to understand, why does China need their oil? Why does Russia need their oil? Why does Iran need their oil? They are not even on this continent. This is Western Hemisphere. This is where we live and we're not going to allow the Western Hemisphere to be a base of operation for adversaries, competitors, and rivals of the United States. We want the proceeds of the oil of that country to benefit people of Venezuela," he added further.

Rubio also made it clear that the US was not at war with Venezuela. "That's not a war," he says. "I mean we are at war against drug trafficking organisations. That's not a war against Venezuela," he added.

Rubio said Washington would instead continue enforcing an existing "oil quarantine" on sanctioned Venezuelan tankers and use that leverage to press for policy changes. "That's the sort of control the president is pointing to," Rubio said, adding that the blockade on sanctioned oil shipments would remain in place until the US saw changes in Venezuela's governance, oil industry management and efforts to curb drug trafficking.

Rubio's remarks appeared aimed at easing concerns that the US military operation could lead to a prolonged foreign intervention or nation-building effort. Earlier Trump had said that the US would "run" Venezuela until a "safe, proper and judicious transition" could be ensured, and that American oil companies would help repair the country's damaged energy infrastructure.

The US in a pre-dawn strike on Venezuelan capital of Caracas, captured Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores. The couple was then taken to US and later transferred to the Metropolitan Detention Center in New York.

Maduro faces charges including narco-terrorism conspiracy, conspiracy to import cocaine, and possession of machine guns and destructive devices, as well as conspiracy to use such weapons against the United States. Maduro has repeatedly denied the accusations, accusing Washington of using its "war on drugs" as a pretext to seize Venezuela's vast oil reserves.

Despite Trump's claims of exercising control, senior US officials acknowledged that Washington has yet to decide what form any transitional arrangement or regime change would take. "We're going to judge everything by what they do," Rubio said, referring to Venezuelan authorities now in charge.

Meanwhile, Venezuela's Supreme Court named vice president Delcy Rodriguez as interim president. Rodriguez said she would do "whatever the US asks" but also insisted on state television that Maduro remained Venezuela's "only president".

Meanwhile, Trump while talking to reporters aboard Air Force One termed Venezuela 'our area'.

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"It's in our area, the Don-roe doctrine. We're in the business of having countries around us that are viable and successful and where the oil is allowed to freely come out."

The president also said that the US has to "bring" Venezuela "back" and described the country as "dead". "And we would have to have big investments by the oil companies to bring back the infrastructure," he says.