WASHINGTON, January 28. /TASS/. The United States hopes to turn Venezuela into its "very strong ally," said Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

"We are, at the end, talking about a Western country that has a long history of cooperation and work with the United States. At one time, Venezuela pre-Chavez was a very strong US ally, and we hope to get back to that point," he said at a hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

On January 3, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Ivan Gil Pinto said that the United States had attacked civilian and military facilities in Caracas. He called Washington's actions military aggression. A state of emergency has been declared in Venezuela.

On January 3, the United States attacked civilian and military facilities in Caracas, captured President Nicolas Maduro and his wife and took them to the US.

On January 5, they appeared before the Federal Court for the Southern District of New York, were accused of involvement in drug trafficking, and pled not guilty.

Delcy Rodriguez, who served as executive vice president under Maduro, took over from him as head of state. US President Donald Trump said the United States would "run" Venezuela in the interim and promised to seek compensation from Caracas for American oil companies, while these firms would allocate funds to restore Venezuela's oil infrastructure.