U.S. strike on alleged cartel boat shows Rubio's influence growing

[Judi Lynn]

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to reporters alongside Secretary of State Marco Rubio in June. | HAIYUN JIANG / THE NEW YORK TIMES

By Eric Martin
Bloomberg

Sep 7, 2025

The U.S. strike that blew up an alleged Venezuelan drug-running boat in the Caribbean, killing 11 people, marked a dramatic escalation in President Donald Trump’s hard-line strategy toward Latin America led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
It may be just the start.

Tuesday’s attack was the culmination of Trump’s yearslong interest in using unprecedented — and legally questionable — force against drug cartels. In 2020 he mused about launching missiles to blow up fentanyl labs in Mexico, according to then-Secretary of Defense Mark Esper.

Now more than seven months into his second term, Trump is unencumbered by the warnings of more moderate advisers. And in Rubio he has an aide who has spent his career drawing a tough stance against socialist leaders in Cuba and, since the Hugo Chavez era, Venezuela.

"What will stop them is when you blow them up, when you get rid of them,” Rubio said of the cartels, speaking to reporters in Mexico City last week. "And it’ll happen again.”

More:
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/09/07/world/politics/rubio-influence-growing-trump/