The Secretary of State Marco Rubio delivered one of his most forceful statements on the geopolitical vision of the Trump administration this Friday, asserting before the Department of State that “in America, we have no interest in being orderly and educated guardians of the controlled decline of the West”.
Rather than resigning to a passive role in the face of the weakening of Western democracies, Rubio called to "revitalize an old friendship and renew the greatest civilization in human history," referring to the transatlantic alliance.
The head of U.S. diplomacy rejected the notion that this alliance remains "paralyzed by the fear of climate change, the fear of war, or the fear of technology," advocating for one that "boldly strides into the future."
Rubio pointed out that what afflicts Western societies "is not just a set of bad policies, but a disease of hopelessness and complacency," and he presented Washington's stance as an active commitment to revitalization, rather than merely managing decline.
This phrase is not new in Rubio's discourse: he already used it in February in front of European leaders during the Munich Security Conference, as a signal that Washington would not accept a secondary role in the world order.
In the same event this Friday, Rubio highlighted a historic turn in the Western Hemisphere: "For the first time in 15 or 20 years, the overwhelming majority of countries in the Western Hemisphere are led by pro-American leaders and governments," he stated, attributing this outcome to the fact that virtually all elections held in the region since Trump took office have favored candidates aligned with Washington.
That picture contrasts with the three governments that Rubio explicitly excludes from that coalition: Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela.
Towards Cuba, Rubio has maintained a stance of maximum pressure. In recent weeks, he confirmed that the United States will use all available tools to press the regime, which he has described as a "failed state."
Rubio also dedicated part of his speech to praising the U.S. humanitarian response following the double earthquake that devastated Venezuela on June 24, 2026, with magnitudes of 7.2 and 7.5, which by July 19 had resulted in over 5,200 deaths and left tens of thousands of people in temporary shelters.
According to Rubio, in less than 36 hours "the full force of the American government was on the ground providing humanitarian assistance," with the USS Ford in the Venezuelan port and Marines helping to operate the airport and the control tower.
He described that operation as "the fastest, most dramatic, and most effective humanitarian response in recent history, if not in all of history," and attributed it to a direct order from President Trump, who called him in less than an hour after the earthquake to say: "Make sure we go there and help those people recover."
The speech this Friday takes place in the context of Washington's repositioning as a hegemonic power in the hemisphere, following the capture of Nicolás Maduro by U.S. forces on January 3, 2026, and the confirmation by Rubio of the start of a transition in Venezuela in mid-July.
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