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The U.S. Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, stated this Friday that Washington's interest in Venezuela is driven by national security reasons, and accused the regime of Nicolás Maduro of collaborating with narcoterrorist groups and actors that threaten hemispheric stability.
“Our interest in Venezuela and in the region aligns with the national interest of the United States, and in Venezuela, we have an illegitimate regime that not only does not cooperate with the United States but openly collaborates with narcoterrorists and others who threaten the national security of our country,” Rubio stated in an official declaration published on his X account (formerly Twitter).
The words of the Secretary of State come at a time of rising regional tension, following the new sanctions from the Department of the Treasury against relatives and associates of Maduro and Cilia Flores, and amid the U.S. naval blockade that aims to stop the shipments of Venezuelan oil to allies such as Cuba.
Rubio, one of the architects of U.S. policy toward Latin America during Republican administrations, has maintained a firm stance against the Chavista regime, which he describes as a "corrupt dictatorship supported by drug trafficking and Cuban espionage."
Diplomatic sources in Washington assured that the strategy of Donald Trump's government aims to cut the financial and logistical flows that support the regime in Caracas, including the operations of Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) and its subsidiaries in the Caribbean and Latin America.
The United States accuses the Maduro government of using oil as a tool for political influence, especially through subsidized shipments to allied countries, including Cuba, Nicaragua, and Bolivia.
Rubio also reiterated that the alliance between Maduro and the Cuban regime poses a direct threat to the region.
According to the Secretary of State, Havana provides intelligence advisors, military personnel, and logistical support to the Venezuelan repressive apparatus in exchange for energy supplies and financial resources.
"Maduro does not act alone; his regime relies on the Cuban security services to maintain power," the official has stated on other occasions, who has advocated for sanctions against high military officials from both countries.
Rubio's statements come in a week marked by new sanctions from the Treasury Department against relatives of Carlos Erik Malpica Flores, nephew of Cilia Flores and former senior executive of PDVSA, who is accused of participating in a network of corruption and money laundering involving businessmen in Panama and Europe.
The tightening of sanctions coincides with U.S. military operations in the Caribbean aimed at intercepting sanctioned oil tankers from the so-called Venezuelan ghost fleet, a maneuver intended to prevent the illegal trade of crude oil with allied governments of Caracas, such as that of Miguel Díaz-Canel in Cuba.
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