Venezuela live updates: Multiple detained Americans released, State Department says

The Department of Justice released a redacted opinion from its Office of Legal Counsel on Tuesday that laid out the legal justification for the U.S. operation to arrest Nicolas Maduro and remove him from Caracas.

The Justice Department document defined the operation as an act of "armed conflict" and found it to be "within the President's unilateral constitutional authority."

The opinion said the DOJ was briefed and assured that "there is no contingency plan to engage in any substantial and sustained operation" in Venezuela.

The legal memo was transmitted to the National Security Council on Dec. 22, roughly two weeks before the operation, and signed by the assistant attorney general.

Some senators viewed the opinion behind closed doors earlier Tuesday, with reviews of its quality split along party lines.

-ABC News' Chris Boccia

Multiple Americans who were detained in Venezuela have been released, the State Department announced Tuesday.

"We welcome the release of detained Americans in Venezuela. This is an important step in the right direction by the interim authorities," a State Department spokesman said Tuesday.

ABC News has reached out to the State Department to confirm the number of Americans released.

A State Department team traveled to Venezuela to help with the release, according to a senior State Department official.

This marks the first release of detained Americans since the ouster of former President Nicolas Maduro.

The news was first reported by Bloomberg.

President Donald Trump had said on Sunday that Venezuela had "started the process, in a BIG WAY, of releasing their political prisoners."

-ABC News' Mariam Khan

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said it's "too soon to say" when elections could be held in Venezuela when pressed during a briefing on Monday.

President Donald Trump has not provided a timeline on elections in the wake of Nicolas Maduro's ouster.

Asked if Trump has confidence in interim Venezuelan President Delcy Rodríguez, Leavitt said Trump made the "right, realistic assessment" of what actions needed to be taken regarding Venezuela’s leadership. She also said Rodriguez and her team "have been very cooperative with the United States," citing last week's energy deal.

"So we've seen a great level of cooperation, and the president expects that to continue," Leavitt added.

-ABC News' Lalee Ibssa and Hannah Demissie

In an apparent response to an earlier social media post from President Donald Trump, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez posted on social media Sunday, saying in part "they have no moral authority to point fingers at Cuba on anything, absolutely anything, those who turn everything into a business, even human lives."

He concluded the post, "Cuba is a free, independent, and sovereign nation. No one dictates what we do. Cuba does not aggress; it is aggressed upon by the United States for 66 years, and it does not threaten; it prepares, ready to defend the Homeland to the last drop of blood."

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez also posted a statement, saying in part, "Like any country, Cuba has the absolute right to import fuel from those markets willing to export it and that exercise their own right to develop their trade relations without interference or subordination to the unilateral coercive measures" of the United States.

President Trump on Sunday posted on his social media platform that Cuba should make a deal with the U.S. “before it is too late," as he attempts to maintain leverage in the region following the raid on Venezuela about a week ago.

-ABC News' Mara Valdes