US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated unequivocally that Nicolás Maduro is not the president of Venezuela and that his regime has no legitimacy, describing it instead as a narco-terror organization that has taken control of an entire country.
Rubio’s remarks were relayed publicly by US Senator Mike Lee, who said he had just spoken with the secretary of state. According to Lee, Rubio confirmed that Maduro has been arrested by US personnel and will be brought to the United States to stand trial on criminal charges.
Lee added that the kinetic military action carried out overnight was designed to protect US forces executing the arrest warrant and falls under the president’s inherent Article II authority to defend American personnel from imminent threats.
In a separate post on his own X account, Rubio reinforced the message, stating that Maduro is the head of the “Cartel de los Soles,” which he described as a narco-terror organization, and emphasized that Maduro is under US indictment for trafficking drugs into the United States.
