What has Trump’s choice as Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, said about Venezuela?

From harsh criticism of the late Hugo Chávez to requesting an international arrest warrant for his successor Nicolás Maduro, whom he accuses of leading a “narco-regime”: What has Marco Rubio said about Venezuela and its government?

“Rubio is probably the American politician with the most information and the most public positions regarding the Venezuela issue in the United States,” he tells Voice of America the internationalist Luis Peche, who sees a relief in relations between the White House and Miraflores unlikely.

Rubio, a 53-year-old Cuban-American, nominated for Secretary of State by US President-elect Donald Trumphas been an ally of the Venezuelan opposition for years and openly criticized the Venezuelan president.

In 2019, Rubio supported the failed figure of interim term of the opposition Juan Guaidó (2019-2023)currently exiled in the United States.

It was precisely the recognition of Guaidó as “interim president”, during the administration of Donald Trump (2017-2021), that led Maduro, on January 23, 2019, to break diplomatic, political and economic relations with Washington.

Here we review some statements by Rubio, known for his support for the policy of maximum pressure on the governments not only of Venezuela, but also of Cuba and Nicaragua.

2024: “A complete fraud” in Maduro’s election

After the questioned re-election of Maduro, on July 28, the senator Rubio said, on social network X, that Chavismo “stole the election”.

“Biden and Harris broadly eased Trump’s sanctions on the Maduro regime as part of a ‘deal’ for elections in Venezuela. Today was that election and it was a complete fraud,” added the head of the House of Representatives subcommittee that oversees Latin American affairs.

Rubio was one of the signatories of a statement in which they rejected the results approved by the Venezuelan Electoral Council (CNE).

“Maduro has once again stolen a presidential election. However, what the narco-regime will never steal is the desire of the Venezuelan people to return to live in democracy and freedom after decades of tyranny. “We must prioritize uniting the free world to reject these false election results,” part of the statement said.

Critic of Biden’s “appeasement”

Also, Rubio has been critical of the administration of Democrat Joe Biden for considering that he bet on a “appeasement strategy” with Maduro.

He valued, for example, as a “serious mistake” and “shame” the release on December 20, 2023 of the Colombian businessman Alex Saaba close collaborator of President Maduro, accused of laundering hundreds of millions of dollars from corrupt deals with the Venezuelan government, in exchange for 10 Americans imprisoned in Venezuela and a fugitive.

In his opinion, “President Biden’s strategy has been completely, and as expected, counterproductive.”

“If we continue to appease both Maduro and his henchmen, the world, and our region in particular, will become more dangerous and more anti-American,” he wrote in February 2024.

2022: Red alert

On June 13, 2022, Rubio asked US Attorney General Merrick Garland to request an Interpol red alert notice for Maduro.

“Maduro is a criminal accused of allying with terrorist organizations to use illegal drugs as weapons against the United States,” he wrote then in a letter.

And he continued: “in the interest of American security and regional stability, Maduro must be prosecuted for his crimes against the Venezuelan people.”

The US Department of Justice accused Maduro and 14 of his officials on March 26, 2020, of narcoterrorism, corruption, drug trafficking and other criminal charges.

At that time, the Venezuelan government reacted in a statement and expressed that the accusations were “miserable, vulgar and unfounded.”

2018: “It is always noble to conspire”

On February 9, 2018, Rubió wrote on his Twitter account, today X, that “the world would support the Armed Forces in Venezuela if it decided to protect its people and restore democracy by removing the dictator.”

This message was followed by another: “it is always noble to conspire against tyranny” and “when tyranny becomes law, rebellion is a right,” in reference to quotes from the Venezuelan liberator Simón Bolívar.

Rubio, 25 years “attacking”

“That guy has been attacking Venezuela for 25 years, 25 years,” Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said on Wednesday when referring to the Republican’s appointment.

Cabello bet, during his weekly television program broadcast by the state-run VTV, that Rubio will be “the first fired from the Trump government.”

On June 14, 2022, Cabello had already called Rubio a “criminal” and “openly participating in the assassination of a president,” in response to the request for a red alert against Maduro.

And Rubio had already accused Cabello of being a “fugitive” wanted by the US justice system, with rewards for his capture.

However, Maduro aspired to have “relations of respect, common sense, dialogue and understanding” with the new Trump government.

“In his first government, re-elected President Donald Trump, it did not go well for us, this is a new beginning for us to bet on win-win and things go well for the United States and things go well for Venezuela,” the president said on November 6 .

“More aggressive” policy?

Meanwhile, the opposition was pleased with Rubio’s appointment. The former opposition presidential candidate, Edmundo González Urrutia, predicts that Rubio “will be a great ally” to “recover freedom and democracy” in Venezuela.

“For years she has had a firm and clear voice in defense of democracy, human rights and freedom,” María Corina Machado, who is in hiding in her country, continued on her social networks, as she has said.

In any case, Washington’s future policy towards Caracas is still uncertain.

But, Rubio’s appointment “tells you that we could be looking to take care of the situation of the entire region and try to promulgate the zones of interest of the United States, that the region is protected as a safe space (…) so we could see a more aggressive policy,” Peche assessed, in conversation with VOA.

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