Marco Rubio Fails to Meet Expectations in Diplomatic Debut

By Misión Verdad – Feb 7, 2025

The head of the US State Department, Marco Rubio, has made his diplomatic debut amid pressures and difficulties. His first tour as head of US diplomacy has shown how difficult it is for him to meet expectations—both personal and political.

First of all, it is necessary to highlight the characteristics of Rubio’s appointment. He is considered a prodigal son of the US bureaucratic apparatus. Now, his political future is at stake in a context where MAGA factors—adverse to the institutional Republican hawks—are much stronger than in Donald Trump’s first administration.

It should also be considered that Trump has a marked tendency towards periodic and frequent replacement of key officials in his administration, unlike other presidents. In his first administration, Trump had three secretaries of state, six defense secretaries, six national security secretaries, and four chiefs of staff.

First tour, first failure
Rubio’s debut as secretary of state was not as he had expected. It could be said that his diplomatic debut started off on the wrong foot.

After his visit to Panama, where he met with President José Raúl Mulino, the State Department announced that “US government vessels can now transit the Panama Canal without fees, saving millions of dollars a year.”

From that moment on, the former Florida senator believed he had scored an inaugural triumph that would guarantee him a first congratulations from Trump, given that the canal, supposedly commercially and operationally tilted towards China, is among his agenda items at the moment. It was also a way for Rubio to balance the board against Richard Grenell, who is getting Trump’s attention after his meeting with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in late January.

Rubio’s adrenaline rush was short-lived. The announcement received a strong response from the Panamanian government. Mulino accused the United States of spreading false information about an alleged agreement that would allow US ships to transit the Panama Canal free of charge.

Mulino explained that, on February 5, he had told the opposite to US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, to whom he explained that no country can be exempted from the tariffs for transit through the bi-oceanic crossing. “It is a constitutional limitation,” stated the Panamanian president.

“I am really surprised because the entity that governs the foreign policy of the United States is making an important, institutional statement on the basis of a falsehood, and this is intolerable,” Mulino added, alluding directly to Rubio.

Rubio responded, “I am not confused about Panama. We had conversations. I thought there were strong first steps. We have expectations we made clear in those conversations.”

In view of the disaster generated by this dissent, the one-to-one channel between presidents was activated. The Panamanian president confirmed on February 6 that he would speak directly with Trump on this issue.

For his part, Trump confirmed the contact. “I think we’re going to talk to Panama on Friday. Essentially, they have committed to certain things, but I am not happy about it,” he said.

Clearly, the US president overruled his secretary in the style of “if you want something to go well, do it yourself”.

Rubio evidently failed to go too far in his “pressure strategy” on Mulino to claim a quick diplomatic victory. His anxiety to stand out and show himself capable and efficient before Trump has worked against him and ended up aggravating the bilateral crisis between Panama and Washington.

Trump has had to go out and pick up the glass shards as his key foreign policy official failed in the task entrusted to him.

Pressing the fire alarm: damage control
In the face of this catastrophe, the only thing Rubio could do was to flee forward. As it is said in Venezuela: “faking insanity” or “playing Willie Mays,” a saying equivalent to playing crazy, whose origin lies in the masterful participation of the famous American baseball player in the 1955 Caribbean Series—he was playing for Puerto Rico, when, after failing frequently at the beginning, he registered an impressive streak in his last at-bats.

However, unlike the Alabama baseball player, no Hall of Fame awaits Marco Rubio at the end of his career.

At his stop in Guatemala, Rubio tried to overcome. As if nothing had happened, he tried to sell his tour as a success after the Guatemalan government, presided over by Bernardo Arévalo, agreed to accept deported migrants. It was an unnecessary exercise in boasting, with which, surely, he intended to overshadow the false step with Mulino.

However, there is nothing extraordinary about Guatemala receiving deportees. Migratory agreements between Guatemala and the United States have been in full operation for years, and deportations are routine.

ALBA-TCP Condemns Marco Rubio’s Statements on Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela (+Foreign Minister Gil)

Venezuela to the rescue?
Rubio’s bragging in Guatemala and his meeting with the president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, in which an immigration agreement was made official to transfer criminals deported from the US to Salvadoran prisons, did not seem to be enough to help him recover the image of a successful debut.

Given this, his reference topic, Venezuela, could guarantee him a greater stir in the press.

Rubio took advantage of a press conference during his visit to the Dominican Republic to repeat the hackneyed argument against Venezuela, accusing it of collaborating with “terrorism.”

However, perhaps a little betrayed by his subconscious, perhaps a little wanting to avoid a possible complaint from Trump, Rubio said, “I do not think that there will be a change in those countries between now and December.” The statement represented a deep emotional blow for the extremist wing of the Venezuelan opposition, as it is a confirmation that the main sponsor of the regime change operation is more concerned about protecting his post than about the “cause of freedom.”

According to the Financial Times, Trump considers the opposition “losers.” Rubio knows that an open position in support of María Corina Machado and Edmundo González is unfeasible. Still, he spares no effort in trying to redirect the Venezuelan issue towards the US president’s most urgent concerns.

On the other hand, according to some Panamanian media, Edmundo González traveled from Peru to Panama, where he supposedly met in secret with Rubio “for 30 minutes.” However, as news of the unconfirmed meeting was leaked, new questions arose.

One of them is: why was the meeting not announced publicly if it really happened?

And if it was “secret,” under what criteria was it allowed to be leaked to the press?

Obviously, the answers lie in Trump’s assessment, but that does not entirely clarify the issue. If the meeting did occur, it would imply a disavowal and a second major diplomatic blunder for Rubio during his tour. Given this possibility, the game of appearances had to continue.

In the Dominican Republic, Rubio announced the confiscation—a euphemism for “theft”—of a Venezuelan aircraft that had been held in that country since last year. Obviously, Rubio must also respond to the pressures coming from the extremist opposition sector, which demands a firmer stance and assurance of Trump turning to “maximum pressure” 2.0. Since this is not possible, for now, Rubio put together an artificial economic coup, framed in the sanctions against Venezuela, to calm anxieties and, at the same time, to obtain a consolation prize against Grenell’s progress and amid his own mistakes.

By the end of the tour on Thursday, February 6, Trump had not referred positively to Rubio, nor had he cheered the “achievements.” On the contrary, it will be Trump himself who will have to finish the work that Rubio left incomplete in Panama. In addition, Trump has appointed Rubio as interim administrator of USAID, an institution Rubio has defended for years, which means facing his own contradictions.

The only relevant US government official who has celebrated the tour was Rubio himself.

“I think it has been such an impactful visit that there was an earthquake, the first earthquake I have ever felt in my life,” he commented.

Rubio has gotten off on the wrong foot, failed in his debut and is restricted from moving forward on regime change in Venezuela while being forced to betray his warhawk approach to forcibly enter the MAGA epistemology in order to gain the confidence of his boss. A potential storm seems to be brewing, with the characteristic “you are fired” that Trump is fascinated to utter.

Marco Rubio may be going the same route as Rex Tillerson. We will soon find out.

(Misión Verdad)

Translation: Orinoco Tribune

OT/SC/SF