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WASHINGTON — <\/span>WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 Secretary of State Marco Rubio<\/a> plans on Wednesday to warn that the Trump administration is ready to take new military action against Venezuela if the country\u2019s interim leadership strays from U.S. expectations. <\/p>\n In prepared testimony for a hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Rubio says the U.S. is not at war with Venezuela and that its interim leaders are cooperating<\/a>, but he notes that the Trump administration would not rule out using additional force if needed following a raid to capture former President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro<\/a> early this month. <\/p>\n \u201cWe are prepared to use force to ensure maximum cooperation if other methods fail,” Rubio will say, according to his prepared opening statement released Tuesday by the State Department. “It is our hope that this will not prove necessary, but we will never shy away from our duty to the American people and our mission in this hemisphere.\u201d<\/p>\n As he often is called to do, Rubio, a former Florida senator, will aim to sell one of President Donald Trump\u2019s more contentious priorities<\/a> to former colleagues in Congress. With the administration\u2019s foreign policy gyrating between the Western Hemisphere, Europe<\/a> and the Middle East, Rubio also may be called to smooth alarm that has emerged in his own party<\/a> lately about efforts like Trump\u2019s demand to annex Greenland<\/a>.<\/p>\n In the hearing focused on Venezuela, Rubio will defend Trump\u2019s decisions to remove Maduro to face drug trafficking charges in the U.S., continue deadly military strikes<\/a> on boats suspected of smuggling drugs and seize sanctioned tankers<\/a> carrying Venezuelan oil, according to the prepared remarks. He will again reject allegations that Trump is violating the Constitution by taking such actions.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is no war against Venezuela, and we did not occupy a country,\u201d he will say, according to the prepared remarks. \u201cThere are no U.S. troops on the ground. This was an operation to aid law enforcement.\u201d<\/p>\n Congressional Democrats have condemned Trump’s moves as exceeding the authority of the executive branch, while most \u2014 but not all \u2014 Republicans have supported them<\/a> as a legitimate exercise of presidential power. <\/p>\n The House narrowly defeated a war powers act<\/a> resolution that would have directed Trump to remove U.S. troops from Venezuela. As Rubio will argue, the administration says there are no U.S. troops on the ground in the South American nation despite a large military buildup in the region.<\/p>\n Democrats had argued that the resolution was necessary after the U.S. raid to capture Maduro and because Trump has stated plans to control the country\u2019s oil industry for years to come.<\/p>\n The pushback has begun in the courts, too, as the families of two Trinidadian nationals killed in a Trump administration boat strike filed what is thought to be the first wrongful death case<\/a> arising from the campaign. Three dozen strikes on boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean have killed at least 126 people<\/a> since September.<\/p>\n While keeping pressure on those who the Trump administration dubs \u201cnarcotraffickers\u201d without providing evidence, U.S. officials also are working to normalize ties with Venezuelan acting President Delcy Rodr\u00edguez<\/a>. Nonetheless, Rubio will make clear in his testimony that she has little choice but to comply with Trump’s demands.<\/p>\n “Rodr\u00edguez is well aware of the fate of Maduro; it is our belief that her own self-interest aligns with advancing our key objectives,\u201d Rubio will say, noting that they include opening Venezuela\u2019s energy sector to U.S. companies, providing preferential access to production, using oil revenue to purchase American goods, and ending subsidized oil exports to Cuba.<\/p>\n Rodr\u00edguez, who previously served as Maduro’s vice president, on Tuesday said her government and the Trump administration \u201chave established respectful and courteous channels of communication.\u201d During televised remarks, Rodr\u00edguez said she is working with Trump and Rubio to set \u201ca working agenda.\u201d<\/p>\n