U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that Venezuela's Maduro regime is an illegitimate terrorist regime that openly cooperates with terrorist elements including Hezbollah and Iran, as well as drug groups, in remarks shared on X between 5:16 p.m. and 5:45 p.m. UTC on December 19, 2025, according to posts by @AlbertoRodNews linking to a video at https://acortar.link/KfEmn9. Rubio added that this focus represents U.S. interests. Rubio said verbatim: "It is an illegitimate regime that openly cooperates with terrorist elements, and for this reason, we consider the Maduro regime to be a terrorist regime." In a separate statement in the same 29-minute window, he specified: "It is an illegitimate regime that openly cooperates with criminal and terrorist elements. Including Hezbollah, Iran and others; and obviously these drug groups that operate from there." Rubio declined to comment on reports of a conversation between President Donald Trump and Maduro, stating: "I am not going to comment on any conversation between President Trump and anyone in the world. And whether it existed or it didn't exist. I'm not going to comment on that," per the @AlbertoRodNews posts. These remarks build on Rubio's earlier statement today labeling Venezuela's regime as the single most serious non-cooperating threat in the Western Hemisphere due to narcotrafficking, as reported in X posts between 4:16 p.m. and 5:15 p.m. UTC.
