Marco Rubio Reportedly Warned Mexican Foreign Minister That Military Campaign Against Venezuela Is Set To Escalate

Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned his Mexican counterpart that the military pressure campaign against Venezuela is set to escalate further, according to a recent report.

La Politica Online detailed that Rubio cautioned Juan Ramon De la Fuente against getting too close to Caracas. The outlet added that Rubio doesn't want Mexico to go through a similar situation to that of Colombia, considering Washington has revoked the visa of President Gustavo Petro and the two heads of state have been repeatedly clashing in public.

La Politica Online also cited Mexican officials who said Washington is tracking whether they are ideologically aligned with the Cuban and Venezuelan regimes.

Washington has indeed continued to escalate its campaign, conducting more strikes against alleged drug boats in the Caribbean and other military drills and operations in the region. In fact, a recent report claimed that Washington is seeking to convince authoritarian President Nicolas Maduro that leaving power will be more costly than staying.

Citing "well-connected business people" inside the country, the Financial Times detailed that, as a result, Venezuelan leaders are increasingly paranoid and concerned about their personal safety.

The outlet noted that regime figures have changed their mobile phones, are sleeping in different cities every night and have changed their Cuban bodyguards for a new batch from Havana.

In this context, Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez said citizens should "prepare for the worst." According to Infobae, the regime said it started conducting military drills and training civilians for combat. In this context, Padrino Lopez said Venezuelan should "prepare for the worst," calling the pressure from the Trump administration a "serious threat."

In this context, Maduro again pleaded for peace with the U.S. "We don't want war in the Caribbean and South America," Maduro said during a televised message. He then changed to English, saying: "Not war, yes peace. With the people of the United States. Please, please, please. Listen to me. From the people of the Bolivarian Republic."