LAUREN FRAYER, HOST:
Let's turn now to the United States, where the White House and Congress are still making sense of this operation in Venezuela. Today, we're learning more about what the Trump administration means by running that country. And on Capitol Hill, Republicans and Democrats drew their party lines on this operation. With more on the unfolding politics of this attack, we turn to NPR's Luke Garrett. Welcome.
LUKE GARRETT, BYLINE: Hello, Lauren.
FRAYER: Luke, a day has passed since Trump told the world that his administration will run Venezuela after it captured President Nicolas Maduro. What do we know about what that means?
GARRETT: That is the question. And today, Secretary of State Marco Rubio answered it in part. Here's Rubio on NBC News.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "MEET THE PRESS")
MARCO RUBIO: He's not running the - he's running policy, the policy with regard to this. We want Venezuela to move in a certain direction.
GARRETT: Rubio said no U.S. troops are currently in Venezuela, but the U.S. will influence the country through oil sanction enforcement.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "MEET THE PRESS")
RUBIO: Our military is helping the Coast Guard conduct a law enforcement function, which is not just the capture of Maduro but the enforcement of our sanctions. We go to court. We get a warrant. We seize the boats.
GARRETT: The secretary of state said U.S. naval, quote, "oil quarantine" remains just off the country's coast. So in short, Lauren, Rubio is saying that the U.S. will run Venezuela but at arm's length for now.
FRAYER: And yet, yesterday, Trump did not rule out sending U.S. troops to Venezuela. Has anything changed there?
GARRETT: No. This hasn't changed. Rubio said today that Trump will - still has this option to send in U.S. troops. For now, though, the administration and its allies in Congress are hoping to influence Maduro allies who are still running the country, namely interim President Delcy Rodriguez. Here's chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Tom Cotton, on CNN calling out Rodriguez specifically.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "STATE OF THE UNION WITH JAKE TAPPER AND DANA BASH")
TOM COTTON: It is a fact that she and other indicted and sanctioned officials are in Venezuela. They have control of the military and security services. We have to deal with that fact.
GARRETT: And yesterday, Trump said Rodriguez would cooperate. But during an interview with The Atlantic magazine today, Trump threatened Rodriguez saying she would pay a, quote, "very big price" if she did not do what was right. So that's something to watch.
FRAYER: What about the legality of all this? What legal justification are we hearing from the White House?
GARRETT: So both Rubio and Cotton called the capture of Maduro and his wife an arrest that was simply aided by the military. Because of that, they argue this didn't require congressional notification, but Democrats disagree. Here's Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on ABC News.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THIS WEEK")
CHUCK SCHUMER: They went inside Venezuela, bombed civilian as well as military places. And it's a violation of the law to do what they did without getting the authorization of Congress.
GARRETT: Schumer said a war powers resolution will get a vote this week, and if it passes, Schumer said Trump won't be able to launch another attack without congressional approval. Though it's worth noting here, Lauren, Democrats have forced similar votes in the past. All have failed.
FRAYER: So what about international reaction? All of this is going to play out at the United Nations, no?
GARRETT: Right. Colombia asked for and was granted an emergency U.N. meeting tomorrow morning. In a statement, U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres said he was, quote, "deeply alarmed" by the U.S. attack. But U.S. ambassador to the U.N., Mike Waltz, offered his preamble to his defense of Trump's actions on Fox News.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "SUNDAY MORNING FUTURES WITH MARIA BARTIROMO")
MIKE WALTZ: You're going to hear a lot of hand-wringing on Article 2 of the U.N. Charter, which deals with sovereignty. And, you know, I will remind everyone of Article 51.
GARRETT: Now, Article 51 of the U.N. Charter protects a country's right to self-defense. The White House has long argued that its military action against Venezuela and its drug trafficking constitutes self-defense.
FRAYER: So many questions, Luke, what are you looking for this week?
GARRETT: For starters, that U.N. meeting tomorrow. I'll also have my eyes on the Senate. You know, will they pass this war powers resolution? We'll be looking at that.
FRAYER: Thanks so much, Luke.
GARRETT: You bet. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
