Rubio Testifies on Venezuela Policy After Maduro Capture

Secretary of State Marco Rubio appeared before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday morning to outline the Trump administration's policy toward Venezuela, following the January 3 capture of former President Nicolás Maduro in a U.S. operation in Caracas.

The hearing, which began at 10 a.m. Eastern Time, marked Rubio's first public testimony since the raid that detained Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. The couple was transported to the United States and is now held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York, awaiting trial on federal charges including narcoterrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, and possession of machine guns and destructive devices. U.S. officials described the nighttime operation as a targeted law enforcement action to apprehend indicted individuals, with strikes on at least four sites in the Venezuelan capital. No American personnel were reported killed or injured, and the administration emphasized that no U.S. troops remain on the ground in Venezuela.

In prepared remarks, Rubio defended the mission as a precise effort to disrupt transnational criminal networks without constituting a war or occupation. "There is no...