Sen. Marco Rubio had high praise for Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for the administration’s harsh new measures against the Venezuelan regime, The Washington Free Beacon reported on Tuesday.
The Florida Republican, who was the target of a suspected assassination attempt orchestrated by Venezuelan politician Diosdado Cabello Rondon, has been a strong advocate for sanctions against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his associates.
Rubio harshly criticized former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson for preventing the White House from taking such steps.
Rubio gave strong backing to the Trump administration for issuing the sanctions, which are aimed at preventing Maduro from selling off Venezuela's debt to American entities and came just one week after additional measures were taken against Cabello, who has been accused of drug trafficking and money laundering. In addition, the administration condemned Sunday's "sham" reelection of Maduro, which the international community considered fraudulent and undemocratic.
Rubio told Politico that "The previous secretary of state protected and assisted the people who undermined the president on Venezuela.
The senator, however, said that now Trump "finally has a team that will turn his orders into action. Like I said a few weeks ago, bringing [John] Bolton into the NSC [National Security Council] and Pompeo into State is bad news for Maduro and [Cuban leader] Raul Castro."
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