Rubio Delivers Ultimatum to Caracas as U.S. Warships Shadow the Caribbean

A Line in the Sand

MIAMI—The sun had barely risen over the Straits of Florida when Senator Marco Rubio stepped to the lectern at the U.S. Southern Command and handed Venezuela’s remaining leaders a stark choice: release every political prisoner, restore banned opposition parties, and schedule internationally supervised elections within 180 days—or brace for what he called “a tightening vise of consequences.”

Demands Backed by Steel

Within hours of Rubio’s remarks, the Pentagon confirmed that the guided-missile destroyer USS Pinckney and the littoral combat ship USS Billings had begun “routine” patrols less than 12 nautical miles off Venezuela’s northern coast. Officials in Caracas called the deployment a provocation; U.S. commanders insisted it was a “pre-planned counter-narcotics mission.”

“We are not bluffing,” Rubio said, voice low, eyes fixed on the cameras. “Every day that Nicolás Maduro clings to power, the hemisphere grows more dangerous.”

Inside the Checklist

The senator, long the Senate’s most vocal critic of chavismo, laid out a four-point ultimatum:

• Immediate release of more than 270 detainees branded “political prisoners” by the U.N.
• Reinstatement of opposition parties barred from next year’s ballot, including María Corina Machado’s Vente Venezuela.
• Acceptance of a 60-day electoral-roadmap negotiated in Barbados last October, now stalled.
• Unfettered access for humanitarian convoys, something Caracas has blocked since 2019.

Caribbean Chessboard

While Rubio spoke, the aircraft carrier USS George Washington strike group steamed through the Windward Passage, joining a British Royal Navy frigate on joint drills. Analysts say the choreography is meant to remind Venezuela’s military that any move against neighboring Guyana—where ExxonMobil produces 650,000 barrels of crude a day—would meet swift resistance.

Opposition Holds Breath

In Caracas, opposition leader Machado greeted the statement cautiously. “We welcome pressure, but Venezuelans cannot be spectators in our own liberation,” she told reporters outside a shuttered polling station. Pollster Datanálisis says 72 % of Venezuelans back foreign sanctions yet fear military escalation.

What Happens Next

The Treasury Department is already drafting fresh sanctions targeting Venezuela’s shadow oil trade with Iran and China. If Caracas fails to budge, diplomats say the Biden administration could revoke the limited licenses that allow Chevron to operate joint ventures in the Orinoco Belt—tightening the noose on the government’s lone source of hard currency.

Back in Miami, exiled oil workers gathered outside Versailles café, waving flags and chanting, “Libertad!” One of them, 42-year-old engineer Luis Montilla, clutched a faded hard hat. “We’ve heard ultimatums before,” he admitted. “But for the first time, the ships are already here.”