The U.S. military captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro Moros and his wife, Cilia Flores de Maduro, in Caracas, on Jan. 3, as CatholicVote previously reported.

Since then, significant related developments have unfolded, including the following. 

Rubio explains U.S. policy in Venezuela

Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Kristen Welker of NBC’s “Meet the Press” that the U.S. is at war with drug trafficking organizations, not Venezuela. He told Welker after she asked about President Donald Trump’s statement “We’re going to run the country” that the U.S. is “running policy” regarding changes in Venezuela.

According to the transcript shared on the U.S. Department of State’s website, Rubio explained that “the goal of the policy is to see changes in Venezuela that are beneficial to the United States first and foremost – because that’s who we work for – but also, we believe, beneficial for the people of Venezuela who have suffered tremendously.”

Rubio said Trump plans to continue applying economic and security pressure until Venezuelan authorities comply with U.S. demands, arguing this approach will ultimately benefit both Americans and the Venezuelan people. He said leaving Maduro in power threatened U.S. national security.

Rubio told Margaret Brennan of CBS’s “Face the Nation” that because Venezuela’s economy relies on oil, and Maduro’s regime steals money from the oil industry, the U.S. has established a quarantine and will continue that quarantine until the Trump administration witnesses changes that benefit the U.S. and the people of Venezuela.

The secretary said the U.S. wants to see an end to drug trafficking, gang members coming to the U.S., and the oil industry benefiting pirates and enemies of the U.S. instead of the Venezuelan people. The Trump administration will assess whether it can work with Delcy Rodríguez, Venezuela’s vice president, according to Rubio.

Rubio told George Stephanopoulos of ABC’s “This Week,” according to a State Department transcript, that the Trump administration is not going to be reactive to rhetoric at press conferences but will be examining whether the country makes the changes the U.S. wants to see.

Rubio said he anticipates Western private oil companies will have “tremendous” interest in Venezuelan oilfields, which haven’t helped the Venezuelan people – aside from the regime – for more than a decade. According to Rubio, the nation’s oil fields haven’t been producing anywhere near full capacity because the equipment is “all decrepit.” He also told Stephanopoulos that the Trump administration has court orders for seizing the sanctioned boats entering or exiting Venezuela with oil.

Rubio noted in the interview with Stephanopoulos that Maduro was “read his rights” when he was arrested by FBI agents.

Maduro and Flores due to stand trial

Maduro and Flores are both in federal custody at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, according to New York Daily News.

The two are scheduled to make their first appearances Jan. 5 before U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York announced. Hellerstein, a 92-year-old Orthodox Jew, was appointed in 1998 by former President Bill Clinton, according to The Jerusalem Post.

New York Daily News reported that Hellerstein was assigned the case in 2014, and federal charges against Maduro were brought several years ago.