US Vice President JD Vance has said that the US military attack in Venezuela was intended to curb funding for narco-terrorism while giving Washington greater control over global energy resources.
Vance said the United States wanted what was best for both the Venezuelan and American people.
"Whoever the leader of that country is, is going to have to play ball with the United States," he said, arguing that previous Venezuelan policies had allowed foreign competitors access to cheap energy while revenues were used to fund activities that threaten the US.
Vance said the operation would disrupt what he described as the flow of energy money to criminal networks.
"What the president did, and really the entire team made possible, is to cut off that flow of energy money to narcoterrorists to then, of course, cut off the amount of narcoterrorism that's being imported in the United States of America," he said.
US President Donald Trump said on January 3 that the operation resulted in the abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores.
Trump also pledged to assert American control over Venezuela for the time being, with US troops if necessary.
Vance said the move was expected to reduce energy costs for Americans and save lives.
"I think it's going to save lives. It's going to mean cheaper gas and energy prices for Americans," he said.
"And maybe most importantly, it's going to mean that we have more control over the energy resources that exist in the world, which makes it possible for us to achieve better economic results for our people, and to use those energy resources as leverage to achieve greater peace and prosperity," he added.
The vice president described the operation as "very important" and praised its execution as "flawless."
