US Secretary of State is going through a crucial moment in his political career since the arrest of deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro
The first Hispanic Secretary of State of the United States, he is experiencing a crucial moment in his political career since: managing the affairs of one of the most complex countries in the region from a distance. When he called a press conference to claim responsibility for the attack in Venezuela, American President Donald Trump addressed Rubio several times, asking for explanations about the next steps.
This adds an extra burden to the 54-year-old politician who, in addition to heading American diplomacy, is also a National Security Advisor at the White House, where he often spends more time than at the State Department itself. Despite Trump’s apparent confidence in Rubio, the secretary of state is careful to give Trump all the credit in public.
Their relationship wasn’t always like this. In the 2016 Republican primaries, he was humiliated, but now, true to his unpredictable style, he remains one of his top advisers. “Everyone in Washington talks the talk, but no one acts like this president,” Rubio exclaimed. When Trump asked him to undertake a major overhaul of the State Department, starting with foreign aid, he didn’t hesitate to use the scissors. Rubio is not afraid to break paradigms, as when he held a press conference almost entirely in Spanish at the State Department in late 2025.
Whenever he is asked whether he will run as a Republican candidate in 2028, he responds time and time again that the decision has already been made and that the candidate will be Vice President JD Vance. One thing he doesn’t seem to give in to is the demand for a political transition in Cuba, the country his parents left before the 1959 Revolution, precisely to escape the lack of democracy.
But before he can achieve a change in Cuba that twelve presidential administrations have failed to achieve, he must face his most decisive challenge yet: redirecting Venezuela, a huge country that is nearly bankrupt economically.
*With information from AFP
