New York Times reporting on December 27th suggest Secretary of State Marco Rubio was the architect of current U.S. operations against Venezuelan oil. Rubio was apparently consulted by President Trump on the matter, who had been asked to curtail Chevron’s operations to cripple their exports to Cuba, perhaps in exchange for certain unnamed “anti-leftist Cuban American” Congresspersons’ votes on the infamous “One Big Beautiful Bill” (H.R. 1). ¹

Mr. Rubio is the son of Cuban immigrants from Miami, Florida, which is home to a vibrant and passionate Cuban expat community. He is also known to be particularly hawkish on Venezuela and the Maduro regime. Then-Senator Rubio has long believed the road to Cuba goes through Venezuela — meaning dismantling the Venezuelan government would ultimately cause the Cuban government to collapse. ^{2, 3}

And so Rubio’s contribution to the current aggression against Venezuela focused on access to Venezuela’s petroleum product: it would hurt the Maduro regime, hurt the Castro regime, and also hurt the Xi regime in China.

When Messrs Trump and Rubio began to whiteboard a strategy, they were joined by Homeland Security Advisor Stephen Miller, who suggested their plans operate under the aegis of drug interdiction operations. Miller had taken particular interest in stepping up interdiction efforts as a means to deter illegal immigration. By summer, President Trump had authorized a military buildup in the Caribbean Sea off of the Venezuelan coast under the pretext of counter-narcotics operations.

Miller apparently advised the President that, if Venezuela and the U.S. were at war, “the Trump administration could again invoke the Alien Enemies Act, an 18th-century law, to expedite deportations of hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans the administration stripped of temporary protected status.” ⁴

Times reporting from December 23 indicates Rubio’s portion of the plans are having the desired effect: ships bound for Venezuela are turning around, and oil tankers are either remaining in port or being escorted by military craft to the edge of territorial waters. ⁵

The U.S. conducted its first strike against a target inside of Venezuela last week, according to reporting dated today. The target, a dock which was apparently loaded with narcotics for maritime shipment, was struck by a drone operated by the Central Intelligence Agency. The attack marks an escalation of hostilities against the Maduro regime beyond the Caribbean Sea. ⁶

¹ Wong, E., Pager, T., Savage, C., Barnes, J. E., & Abi-Habib, M. (2025, December 27). How Oil, Drugs and Immigration Fueled Trump’s Venezuela Campaign. The New York Times. Retrieved December 30, 2025, from https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/27/us/politics/venezuela-trump-maduro-oil-boat-strikes-immigration.html

² Crowley, M., & Wong, E. (2025, December 12). For Rubio the Cuba Hawk, the Road to Havana Runs Through Venezuela. The New York Times. Retrieved December 30, 2025, from https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/12/us/politics/rubio-cuba-venezuela.html

³ Wikipedia contributors. (2025c, December 21). Marco Rubio. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marco_Rubio

⁴ Wong, et al. (2025)

⁵ Kurmanaev, A., & Elliott, R. (2025, December 23). Trump’s Tanker Crackdown Paralyzes Venezuelan Oil Exports. The New York Times. Retrieved December 30, 2025, from https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/23/world/americas/trump-tankers-venezuela-oil-industry.html

⁶ Pager, T. (2025, December 30). The C.I.A. Strike on Venezuela: What to Know. The New York Times. Retrieved December 30, 2025, from https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/30/us/politics/trump-venezuela-drone-strike-attack.html