Rubio Defends U.S. Removal of Maduro at CARICOM Summit

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio strongly defended Washington’s military operation to remove Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, telling Caribbean leaders on Wednesday that both Venezuela and the wider region are “better off” as a result.

Rubio made the remarks during a closed-door session with leaders of the 15-member Caribbean Community (CARICOM), who are meeting in St. Kitts and Nevis for their annual summit.

“Irrespective of how some of you may have individually felt about our operations and our policy toward Venezuela,” Rubio said, according to a transcript released by the U.S. State Department, “Venezuela is better off today than it was eight weeks ago.”

Several Caribbean governments had raised concerns about the legality of Maduro’s capture last month and the broader implications for regional sovereignty. Rubio dismissed those concerns, arguing that since Maduro’s removal, and the effective U.S. takeover of Venezuela’s oil sector, interim authorities have made “substantial” progress.

He claimed developments in the past two months included steps that “eight or nine weeks ago would have been unimaginable.”

The operation was praised a day earlier by U.S. President Donald Trump during his State of the Union address, calling it “an absolutely colossal victory for the security of the United States.”

Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar publicly supported U.S. military operations in the southern Caribbean Sea and confirmed her talks with Rubio covered Haiti, Cuba and Venezuela.

When asked whether recent U.S. strikes on suspected drug boats constituted extrajudicial killings, she said her government’s legal advice indicated they were not.

Meanwhile, St. Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Terrance Drew, who chairs CARICOM, warned that the region stands at a “decisive hour” as the global order shifts.

Jamaica’s Prime Minister Andrew Holness highlighted concerns about Cuba’s worsening humanitarian crisis, cautioning that prolonged instability there could impact migration, security and economic stability across the Caribbean.