Secretary of State Marco Rubio has been advocated for the use of U.S. military force against Venezuela for years, records compiled by The Associated Press show.
Concretely, the outlet noted that in a 2018 interview with Univision Rubio, back then a Republican senator, said he thought "U.S. armed forces should only be used in cases of national security threats," and "there is a strong argument that can be made right now that Venezuela and Maduro's regime have become a threat to the region and the U.S."
Geoff Ramsey, a senior analyst on Venezuela at the Atlantic Council in Washington, told the AP that now, as Secretary of State, Rubio "sees an opportunity to move forward a much more aggressive U.S. policy toward Latin America."
Rubio has been playing a leading role the U.S.'s recent decisions, warning that more will come. On Wednesday, he said in Mexico that the order to "blow up" the vessel rather than interdict it came from President Donald Trump.
"And it will happen again," Rubio added. Before heading to the neighboring country, Rubio had already anticipated that the Trump administration will l "go on the offense" against cartels.
Trump is "going to use the full power of America and the full might of the us to take on and eradicate these drug cartels no matter where they're operating from and no matter how long they've been able to act with impunity," Rubio said.
Rubio has also rejected criticism of the decision, dismissing a UN report claiming that most drug-trafficking in South America takes place in Colombia and Ecuador, rather than Venezuela.
Speaking at a press conference along with Ecuadorean counterpart Gabriela Sommerfeld, Rubio rejected the report brought up by a journalist, noting that 5% of all drug-trafficking in the region goes through Venezuela, compared to 87% in Colombia and Ecuador.
"I don't care what the UN says. He's a fugitive from U.S. justice indicted by a New York grand jury. He's not the legitimate leader of Venezuela," Rubio added.
Tensions keep escalating in the region, with authoritarian President Nicolas Maduro saying he will begin "mobilizing" civilian militias following the attack.
The call will take place on Friday, with Maduro saying he expects over 8 million people to join after "joining the national defense system." He added that the "powerful base," comprised of some 4.5 million who have been "trained for years" will be the cornerstone of the mobilization.
Elsewhere, two Venezuelan jets flew near a U.S. Navy ship, a move the Pentagon called "highly provocative" and "designated to interfere with our counter narco-terror operations."
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