Tag: Marco Rubio

• Tuesday, July 21st 2026 - 21:23 UTC

  US reacts to Ortega's announcement that Nicaragua will hold no more elections

  

  US Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned on Tuesday that his country “will not stand idly by” after Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega announced that the country will no longer hold elections. In a State Department statement, Rubio called on the international community to “join forces” to respond to what he described as the Nicaraguan government's attacks on the democratic principles of the hemisphere.

• Monday, July 20th 2026 - 19:51 UTC

  Rubio says talks on Venezuela's democratic transition will begin in early August

  

  U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Monday that talks to begin a democratic transition in Venezuela will start in early August. Rubio, who leads Washington's relationship with Caracas, said a group representing the National Assembly elected in 2015 —the last one the United States recognizes as legitimate— met with the interim government and agreed to establish a forum for reconciliation talks and to begin the transition process.

• Thursday, June 11th 2026 - 22:46 UTC

  Cuba accuses Rubio of tightening the US economic and energy blockade after Cupet sanction

  

  Cuba's government on Thursday accused US Secretary of State Marco Rubio of “further reinforcing” the economic and energy siege against the island, after Washington sanctioned the state company Unión Cuba-Petróleo (Cupet), which handles crude extraction, refining and production. Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez charged that Rubio resorts to “usual vulgar lies” to justify the measure.

• Friday, May 8th 2026 - 02:14 UTC

  United States imposes new sanctions on Cuban military conglomerate GAESA amid escalating pressure

  

  US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on Thursday a new package of sanctions against the Grupo de Administración Empresarial S.A. (GAESA), the conglomerate linked to the Cuban Armed Forces that controls approximately 40% of the island's economy, in a fresh escalation of the economic pressure deployed by the Trump administration against the Havana regime. The measure is part of the implementation of Executive Order 14404, signed by President Donald Trump on May 1, which authorizes sanctions against those responsible for political repression and threats to US national security.

• Friday, May 1st 2026 - 17:12 UTC

  RAF chief calls Falklands defence 'non-negotiable' as Rubio plays down Pentagon memo

  

  The head of Britain's Royal Air Force (RAF), Air Chief Marshal Sir Harv Smyth, said on Friday that the United Kingdom remains “on high alert and ready” to defend the Falklands “at a moment's notice,” in remarks published by The Times that reaffirm London's military stance on the archipelago following the leak of an internal Pentagon memorandum that considered reviewing US historic support for British sovereignty over the islands. Smyth stressed that the RAF's role in defending the territory was “non-negotiable,” a formulation that reflects the hardening of British military rhetoric in the latest phase of the diplomatic crisis.

• Wednesday, April 1st 2026 - 02:07 UTC

  Machado meets Rubio in Washington, says her return to Venezuela is near

  

  Venezuelan opposition leader and 2025 Nobel Peace Prize laureate María Corina Machado met Tuesday with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the State Department in Washington. It was the second meeting between the two since the U.S. military operation that captured Nicolás Maduro in Caracas on January 3.

• Friday, March 6th 2026 - 04:24 UTC

  US and Venezuela restore diplomatic and consular ties after seven-year rupture

  

  The United States and Venezuela’s interim authorities have agreed to restore diplomatic and consular relations, in a formal shift that ends a rupture dating back to 2019 and deepens the bilateral thaw that began after Nicolás Maduro was captured by U.S. forces in January. The announcement was made on Thursday by the State Department.

• Friday, February 27th 2026 - 19:04 UTC

  Trump floats a “friendly takeover” of Cuba, says talks are under way with Havana

  

  U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday that his administration is holding talks with Cuba and suggested the process could lead to a potential “friendly takeover” of the island, portraying Havana as facing acute economic and supply strains.

• Thursday, February 26th 2026 - 13:14 UTC

  Cuba says it foiled ‘terrorist’ infiltration after shootout with Florida-registered speedboat

  

  Cuba said on Thursday that a civilian speedboat departing from the United States was attempting “an infiltration for terrorist purposes” when it was intercepted in Cuban territorial waters, in an incident that left four people dead and six wounded among the boat’s occupants, as well as one injured Cuban officer.

• Thursday, February 26th 2026 - 06:53 UTC

  Cuba says four killed on Florida-registered speedboat after shootout in territorial waters

  

  February 25, 2026. Cuba said its border guard forces killed four people and wounded six others during an exchange of fire with a civilian speedboat registered in Florida that, according to Havana, entered Cuban territorial waters and failed to comply with an order to stop.