Marco Rubio claims Trump won’t be 'suckered' by Nicolas Maduro like Biden
WASHINGTON, DC: Secretary of State Marco Rubio lashed out at Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro Tuesday night during an interview with Sean Hannity, just as President Donald Trump turns up the heat on Caracas to pry the socialist ruler out of his palace.
“The Maduro regime is not a legitimate government,” Rubio declared to Fox host Sean Hannity. “What it is is a transshipment organization. It allows illegal substances that are produced in Colombia to be trafficked through Venezuelan territory and – with the cooperation of elements of the regime – are allowed to… leave Venezuela on airplanes and ships headed towards the United States.”
Rubio credited the administration’s crackdown, including recent hits on suspected boats parked a little too close to Venezuelan waters and the growing US military presence in the region.
Rubio said that the president had authorized a counter-narcotics mission in the region. He added that the fact Maduro was upset about it indicated that illegal substances were coming out of Venezuela.
Marco Rubio rehashes border chaos and broken deals
The Trump administration is already moving to cut off temporary protected status for roughly 600,000 Venezuelans now living in the United States.
Rubio said the regime is “openly” cooperating with dealers and warned that its actions have basically turned South America into a geopolitical pressure cooker.
“The Venezuelan regime is a source of instability in the entire region,” he said. “Over eight million Venezuelans have flooded into neighboring countries as a result of the regime's activities within their own country, including into the United States.”
Maduro’s chronic betrayal problem infuriates Rubio.
“If you wanted to make a deal with him [Maduro], I don't know how you do,” the SecState told Fox News. “He's broken every deal he's ever made… Maduro has made five deals with different parties over the last 10 years and has broken every single one of them.”
Marco Rubio slams Biden deal, praises Trump
According to Rubio, the real smoking gun is a busted arrangement between former President Joe Biden and Maduro that “no one talks about."
“Maduro asked [Biden] that his nephews be released from US prisons,” Rubio said. “He asked that his chief money launderer… be released from US custody before he stood trial. In exchange, he promised to hold free and fair elections. He got the nephews back, he got the bag man back, and he never did the free and fair elections.”
“They suckered Joe Biden. They're not going to sucker Donald Trump," he added.
Trump recently revealed that he personally got Maduro on the phone, warning him to pack his bags or risk US military consequences.
During a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Rubio couldn’t help applauding the president’s hardball stance. He called the past year of Trump’s global strategy one of the most “transformational” since World War II.
“The president is a unique figure in modern American history. He's prepared to sit down and meet and talk to anybody,” Rubio said. “But at the end of the day, there has to be somebody that you can actually make a deal with. We've made a deal with the Chinese, but Maduro's never kept a deal. That doesn't mean the president won't try.”
