Washington, Jan. 28 -- US Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended the capture of former Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro before a Senate committee, arguing that the operation did not amount to an act of war and portraying it as a strategic necessity for the Trump administration.

Testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday, Rubio laid out Washington's rationale behind the January 3 capture of Maduro, who remains detained in New York while facing drug trafficking and narco-terrorism conspiracy charges.

At the outset of the hearing, Rubio characterised the operation as a "strategic" move and dismissed concerns raised by United Nations experts over international law. He described Venezuela under Maduro as a "bas...