Secretary of State Marco Rubio took to the stage on Friday to criticize Venezuela’s “illegitimate” regime, openly stating that the United States’ pressure campaign is aimed at ending Nicolás Maduro’s rule. He said the goal is to curb the alliance between Caracas and violent groups that threaten U.S. interests.
During a year‑end press briefing, Rubio declared that the current situation in Venezuela is “intolerable for the United States.” He accused the government of not only tolerating criminal organizations but also “partners with and participates in activities that threaten the national interest of the United States.”
Rubio pointed to the successes of the Trump administration’s hard‑line tactics, noting that the U.S. military’s recent attacks on suspected drug‑running vessels have frightened smugglers into retreat. “People were just going there without any fear,” he said, referring to the drug‑running boats. “Now people understand it’s not a good idea.”
He added that there have been no U.S. strikes in the Caribbean for almost five weeks—not because enforcement stopped, but because smugglers have “don’t want to get on a boat anymore.” However, the U.S. military remains active elsewhere in the hemisphere, having killed four cartel‑linked terrorist operatives in the Pacific last Wednesday.
Rubio framed Trump’s broader strategy as a key promise fulfilled. “He said he was going to go after the cartels — and now he’s going after the cartels,” he remarked, mocking critics who now claim they’re “shocked.” “This is a man who says and then does.”
According to Rubio, the largest threat to U.S. security from the Western Hemisphere comes from transnational criminal and terrorist organizations fueled by drug trafficking. He asserted that nearly every country in the region is now collaborating to counter this danger.
“The single most serious threat to the United States from the Western Hemisphere is from transnational terrorist criminal groups primarily focused on narco trafficking, but they’re on all sides’ businesses as well,” Rubio said, citing Hezbollah’s use of Venezuela to threaten the U.S.
Rubio added that the “good news,” comes from the cooperation of many hemisphere nations—Mexico, Ecuador, El Salvador, Jamaica, Guyana, and the Dominican Republic—who have “openly cooperate and work with us to confront these challenges.”
He praised Mexico’s level of cooperation as “the highest it’s ever been in their history,” while singling out Venezuela as the only government that does not collaborate. “Not only do they not cooperate with us, they openly cooperate with terrorists and criminal elements.”
“For example, they invite Hezbollah and Iran to operate from their territory, but they also allow [Colombian terror groups] ELN and the FARC dissidents not just to operate from inside of Venezuelan territory, but to control Venezuelan territory unencumbered, unimpeded,” he added.
Rubio defended the Trump administration’s shift toward military and economic pressure, criticizing past attempts at diplomacy that failed to produce tangible results. He referenced a failed deal under the Biden administration that offered sanctions relief and prisoner releases in exchange for free and fair elections—an agreement that never materialized. “He pocketed all the benefits and lived up to none of the commitments,” Rubio said. “It’s hard to do a deal with someone who never keeps a deal.”
The Trump administration, he stressed, can’t negotiate with criminals in the same way it does with states. “You can’t reach a peace deal with narco‑trafficking gangs,” Rubio said. “We reserve the right to use every element of national power to defend the national interest of the United States.”
Rubio also highlighted Trump’s hard‑line immigration strategy, noting that illegal crossings have “collapsed” after years of what he described as “the most reckless migratory incompetence in American history.”
He pointed out that the United States remains the world’s largest provider of legal immigration, granting nearly one million green cards this year. According to Rubio, previous administrations admitted large numbers of people without adequate vetting, creating serious security risks.
“I think everyone would understand that after a flood of 15 to 20 million people into our country—almost unrestrained in some extent—over the last four years before taking over in January of this year, there’s a desire in our country to put a stop to that,” the secretary said.
“Until we can fix these processes to ensure that not only do we know who’s in the country now, but in the future, we’re not going to face some of these challenges that we faced in the past.”
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