"The world is watching to see whether Venezuela will suffer the same fate as the last country where the U.S. achieved regime change - Iraq, which fell into chaos shortly after the 2003 invasion. The big picture: Rubio's life story is intimately intertwined with Trump's historic, legacy-defining move to seize Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, in Caracas and extradite the two of them to the U.S. to face charges of cocaine trafficking."
"Rubio's background and worldview meshed with Trump's desire to expand U.S. influence throughout Latin America, where the president wants hemispheric dominance. Trump also wants Venezuela's oil and blames Maduro for causing an unprecedented migration crisis. Rubio "knows the region, knows the politics. He speaks Spanish basically as a first language," a senior White House adviser said. "There's a reason the president chose him as secretary and as his national security adviser.""
U.S. forces conducted an operation to seize Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, in Caracas and move them to the United States to face cocaine-trafficking charges. Marco Rubio led the effort, leveraging his Cuban-exile roots, Spanish fluency, and history of opposing Latin American socialist regimes. The operation aligns with presidential aims to expand U.S. influence in Latin America, secure Venezuelan oil, and address migration flows blamed on Maduro. Rubio informed Congress and spoke by phone with Vice President Delcy Rodríguez. A small committee led by Rubio will guide next steps. Rodríguez denounced the seizure and called Maduro the rightful president, while U.S. officials dismissed her statements as domestic political pandering.
Read at Axios
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