Marco Rubio is arguably the Venezuelan people's most vocal ally in the United States and has been for well over a decade. He fully supports the opposition and goes after Nicolás Maduro any chance he gets. As a senator, he worked with both Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump to push for tougher sanctions on the farcical government.
"The Maduro regime’s abuses of power and violations of human rights are hurting innocent people in our hemisphere and threaten the national security interests of the United States, and we have a responsibility to stand with the Venezuelan people by extending these sanctions," he said in 2016.
Now that he's secretary of state, he's in the perfect position to turn words into action. Lately, it feels like that's exactly the path he's on, and he's become more and more vocal about it in recent weeks. I, for one, welcome it. Not only is the South American country in the midst of a major humanitarian crisis, but it's creating an increasingly problematic national security challenge here in the United States and throughout much of the Western Hemisphere.
Unlike Joe Biden, who was soft on Maduro, easing sanctions, trading away leverage, and legitimizing his "presidency", Rubio and Trump are now using stronger language — or calling him what he is: a criminal, cartel leader, and narco-terrorist — and they're ramping up efforts to bring him to justice.
Last week, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and State Department announced a $50 million reward for "information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of Nicolás Maduro for violating U.S. narcotics laws."
.@StateDept and @TheJusticeDept are increasing the reward for the arrest of dictator Nicolás Maduro to $50 million for violating U.S. narcotics laws.
— Secretary Marco Rubio (@SecRubio) August 8, 2025
Maduro is the head of the vicious Cartel de Los Soles, a narco-terror organization which has taken over Venezuela. Maduro MUST…
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For over a decade, Maduro has been a leader of Cartel de los Soles, which is responsible for trafficking drugs into the United States. On July 25, 2025, the U.S. Department of the Treasury designated Cartel de Los Soles as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT).
Since 2020, Maduro has strangled democracy and grasped at power in Venezuela. Maduro claimed to have won Venezuela’s July 28, 2024, presidential election but failed to present any evidence that he had prevailed. The United States has refused to recognize Maduro as the winner of 2024 election and does not recognize him as the President of Venezuela.
As I said, Rubio speaks out against Maduro often, but in recent interviews, I've noticed a hint of escalation in his words. While appearing on EWTN's "The World Over," the secretary brought up Maduro when answering a question about designating cartels as terrorist organizations.
Related: Why Are Democrats Trying to Sanction One of Our Greatest Allies in Latin America?
"Here’s the thing: We cannot continue to just treat these guys as local street gangs," he said. "They have weaponry that looks like what terrorists, in some cases armies, have. They control territory in many case. Those cartels extend from the Maduro regime in Venezuela – which is not a legitimate government; we don’t recognize the Maduro regime as legitimate. It is a criminal enterprise – all the way to the various different cartels that operate in Mexico, and in between."
On Monday, Rubio appeared on "Sid and Friends in the Morning" and doubled down on that sentiment, but he also admitted that simply offering up a $50 million reward isn't enough.
"What people forget about Maduro – they call him a dictator because he is and all that – he’s not a government official. In essence, we don’t recognize his government as legitimate. That is not a legitimate government. What he is is the head of a drug trafficking logistics organization – a cartel, the Cartel of the Suns, which is basically run by the military. They basically allow drug dealers not just to move drugs through Venezuela but to do so using, like, military facilities, okay. So they have – it’s like a drug cartel took control of the national territory. So they need to be treated for what it is, which is not a government, not a dictatorship per se; it is a drug cartel. It is a narco-terrorist regime that’s empowered itself of Venezuelan territory. And from there it extends down to the Mexican cartels, the gangs in Ecuador and through Central America.
But we’ve got to take this stuff seriously. They are flooding our country with poison every single day, destroying and ending American lives, ripping up American families, wiping out American communities. At some point we’ve got to say we’re going to take this people on, and we’ve got to take them on with more than just rewards, by the way."
I'm not sure what "take them on with more than just rewards" implies. It could simply mean more or tougher sanctions, increased diplomatic isolation, more indictments or tougher legal action, or, while I kind of doubt it, military action.
Side note: I'll never forget a Guyanese reporter somewhat nervously asking Rubio back in March if the United States would stand up for Guyana or Exxon Mobil, which has a strong presence in the Caribbean nation, if Venezuela attacked. While the secretary said he wouldn't get into the details, he did say, "It would be a big mistake for them," and mentioned our "big navy" that can get anywhere in the world quickly.
Unfortunately, Rubio doesn't confide in or share information with me (yet). Hey Marco, I'm available to write about whatever you like! I can only guess, but I'm going to stay on top of this. I think what happens in Venezuela is becoming increasingly important to our national security, and it's often overlooked in favor of other problematic situations around the world. (Meanwhile, Democrats and the mainstream media are focused on bringing down Nayib Bukele, a leader who was democratically elected, has improved the lives of his constituents, and is well-liked in El Salvador. Oh, and he's one of our strongest allies who has taken many actions to help improve our national security. But he's the bad guy, not Maduro. Go figure!)
I know it's easy to ignore problems like this in other countries, but I also believe that building a strong, allied Western Hemisphere is one of the best things our country can do to keep China out of the region. That's a topic for another article. Supporting a new, improved Venezuela would also help with mass migration issues, among many other things.
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