When last Sunday, January 4, Trump was asked who would “rule” Venezuela after the removal of Nicolas Maduro, the president pointed to the people behind him, including his national security adviser and foreign minister, Marco Rubio. He was supposed to be the main interlocutor of Maduro’s successor, Delca Rodriguez, who – according to the Trump administration‘s vision – should be his “puppet”. The next day, the Washington Post called Rubio “viceroy of Venezuela”and the Internet was filled with memes showing the Secretary of State in the uniform of a colonial governor or against the background of a map of his new empire stretching across the Americas.
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Who is Marco Rubio?
What is Marco Rubio’s influence in the Trump administration?
When did Trump call Rubio the ‘viceroy of Venezuela’?
What roles does Marco Rubio play in the White House?
Rubio with the greatest influence on Venezuela
For Rubio, a son of Cuban refugees from Florida, the Venezuelan operation is the culmination of many years of aspirations and efforts, although probably not the end. From the beginning, Rubio was mentioned as the spiritus movens of the maximum pressure policy aimed at overthrowing Nicolas Maduro. His influence ultimately outweighed the aspirations of the group of supporters of a deal with Maduro, represented mainly by Trump’s envoy Richard Grenell, who had previously also lost the competition for the position of secretary of state against Rubie.
Although Trump initially favored Grenell’s approach, he conducted negotiations with Maduro, among others. on the release of Americans held by the regime in Caracas, Rubio ultimately won. According to the New York Times, he was also behind the decision to cooperate with Maduro’s successor, Delcy Rodriguez, instead of demanding that the rightful winner of the presidential elections, Edmund Gonzalez Urrutia, come to power.
This decision, explained by fears about the instability of the country in the event of an attempt to install the opposition in power, shows what a bumpy path and full of compromises Rubio has traveled on the way to becoming the “viceroy” and a leading figure in Trump’s entourage.
The politician entered the national scene in 2011 as a senator from Florida and a rising star in the Republican Party. From the very beginning, he was predicted to be a possible president. From the very beginning, Rubio was one of the biggest hawks in the party, serving on the Senate intelligence and foreign affairs committees. At the time, he was known for criticizing Russia, Iran, China and other regimes — including those in Havana and Caracas.
When the founder of the Venezuelan regime, Hugo Chavez, died in 2013, Rubio appealed to Venezuelans to seize the opportunity to “close one of the darkest periods in their history and begin a new, albeit difficult, path to restoring the rule of law, democratic principles, security and free markets.” Rubio made similar appeals and efforts many times in later years, including: interviewing the previous leader of the Venezuelan opposition, Juan Guaido. This meeting took place in Cucuta, at the border crossing between Venezuela and Colombia.
From critic to ally. Rubio’s path to Trump’s court
Rubio’s position as a leading Republican hawk put him on a collision course with Donald Trump during the 2016 Republican primaries. As the main candidate of the anti-Trump wing of the party, Rubio directed very sharp criticism at Trump and vowed at the time that he “would not rest until he stops an impostor from taking over Reagan’s party.”
However, he did not fulfill his promise, and after years spent on the sidelines of Republican politics, Rubio underwent a visual transformation, joining the “America First” movement. Despite initial tough support for Ukraine after Russia’s full-scale invasion of the country, Rubio ultimately voted against the latest aid packages for Kiev, explaining that America’s priority was to stop illegal immigration. He then got into a public argument with Prime Minister Donald Tusk.
Despite some change of heart, Rubio’s prior reputation in the Senate was enough for all 99 senators to approve his election as secretary of state. Many of them regret this decision to this day, even if they still doubt the sincerity of Rubio’s “conversion” to Trumpism.
— There is no denying that Marco has let us all down, especially when it comes to Russia and Ukraine. But I think in his case we are dealing with a “long game”. If anyone in this administration has a real long-term plan, it is Marco, one of Rubio’s former colleagues in the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee told PAP.
However, a different view on the matter was presented by Susie Wiles, White House chief of staff, in a surprisingly honest interview for Vanity Fair.
— Marco isn’t the type of person who would break his rules. He just doesn’t do it, she said, portraying his attitude as contrasting with the more “politically” motivated conversion of another former Trump critic, J.D. Vance.
Regardless of the sincerity of Rubio’s transformation, it was credible enough for Trump to make him one of the most important figures in his administration. Although Trump chose Vance over Rubio when deciding who would be his vice president, the latter currently plays a more influential role in the White House. In addition to his original role as secretary of state, he is also national security adviser (a role previously shared by only two people in US history), as well as, formally, administrator of the USAID aid agency and acting head of the National Archives.
Rubio himself often jokes about the multitude of his roles; last time, denying online “rumors” that he would become the coach of the Florida football team, the Miami Dolphins.
Rubio and Vance in one row
Even though Vance is vice president, Trump has lumped Rubio and Vance together in public statements about his successor. Additionally, while Trump’s team monitored the Venezuela operation from a makeshift command center at Mar-a-Lago, Rubio was on site and Vance connected remotely.
It was Rubio – along with other key figures in the White House, including Stephen Miller – who was also behind the controversial National Security Strategy, which recognizes US “dominance” in the Western Hemisphere as the main goal of American policy, at the expense of involvement in Europe.
-That was good, wasn’t it? “I wrote it myself,” Rubio joked about the strategy during a press conference at the State Department late last year.
Rubio did not hide that the next step in implementing this strategy would be the country of his parents – Cuba. Asked during an NBC interview whether the Havana regime was next on the target list, Rubio confirmed, noting that Cuba has long been a “big problem.”
“I think they’re in big trouble.” (…) I will not tell you what our steps will be in the future and what our policy is at the moment. “But I don’t think it’s a big secret that we’re not big fans of the Cuban regime,” Rubio admitted.
