US Secretary of State Marco Rubio decried the “status quo” with the Maduro government as “intolerable” as the Trump administration on Friday announced new sanctions on family members of the embattled Venezuelan leader.
For months, the administration has carried out a campaign of deadly military strikes in the Caribbean and Pacific and mounting economic pressure against Caracas as part of what they have described as a war against drug trafficking. They have resisted saying that they are actively seeking regime change in Venezuela but have accused President Nicolas Maduro of being illegitimate and a narco-trafficker.
On Friday, Rubio doubled down on those accusations.
“It is clear that the current status quo with the current Venezuelan regime is intolerable for the United States,” Rubio said Friday when asked about comments from the White House chief of staff that Trump “wants to keep on blowing boats up until Maduro cries uncle.”
“The status quo that they operate and cooperate with terrorist organizations against the national interest of the United States – not just cooperate, but partner with and participate in activities that threaten the national interest of the United States,” Rubio said at a press conference.
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