Welcome to “The New Monroe Doctrine,” where I give you an update on what’s going on in the Western Hemisphere, south of our border, especially as it relates to the United States.
Marco Courts the Hemisphere
First of all, Marco Rubio has made my job a lot easier. Not only has he been meeting publicly with and talking to major players in our hemisphere this week, but this morning, he held a press briefing that lasted over two hours. It may very well be the longest given by any Secretary of State in history. He took questions from at least 50 journalists. Unfortunately, I was not one of them, but I do have a few notes and clips to share.
Rubio talked about a lot of issues, but the big three were Russia/Ukraine, Israel/Hamas, and the Western Hemisphere. He took questions and responded in both Spanish and English, and it was a master class on why he is exactly the right person for this position at this point in history. Earlier this month, he told Sean Hannity that “what happens in our hemisphere impacts us faster and more deeply than something that’s happening halfway around the world.” And that’s exactly why we need to focus more on Latin America and less on Europe in my opinion, but let’s stick to what he said for now.
Much of what Rubio said I have already written about, but I did take a few notes to share. One thing I wanted to highlight is that he said terrorist organizations are the biggest issue in our hemisphere right now, but the good news is that most of the region is cooperating with us to help solve that — most of Central America, most of the Caribbean, most of South America, and even Mexico somewhat… almost everyone but Venezuela. Venezuela is not only not cooperating with us, but it’s cooperating with our enemies, both inside and outside of the hemisphere.
.@SecRubio: “The single most serious threat to the United States from the Western Hemisphere is from transnational terrorist criminal groups, primarily focused on narcotrafficking… There’s one place that doesn’t cooperate — and it’s the illegitimate regime in Venezuela.” pic.twitter.com/TFqUVCpVDV
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) December 19, 2025
Basically, he reiterated something he says often: You can’t trust or make a deal with the country’s illegitimate, narco-terrorist “leader” Nicolás Maduro. Joe Biden’s administration thought you could and did. That’s part of the reason why Maduro is such a problem right now. I wrote about this earlier this week, and I hope you’ll check it out because I had so many people say they didn’t know any of it.
Here’s the link: Biden’s Venezuelan Disaster.
Something else I try to hammer home when I write these articles, and that Rubio touched on today, is that a lot of this stuff regarding Maduro, narco-trafficking, etc., is something everyone should and would be against… if Donald Trump wasn’t the one doing something about it. As he pointed out, Maduro and many people in his regime were indicted by a grand jury in the Southern District of New York based on actual evidence.
“Until President Trump started doing something about these narco-trafficking links, nobody disputed that Maduro and his regime was in cahoots with narcotraffickers — not to mention the fact that they unleashed Tren de Aragua gangs on the United States, they’ve unleashed a mass migration event…nobody disputed the drug links,” he said.
.@SecRubio: “Until @POTUS started doing something about these narcotrafficking links, nobody disputed that Maduro and his regime was in cahoots with narcotraffickers — not to mention the fact that they unleashed Tren de Aragua… That’s what @POTUS has been focused on.” pic.twitter.com/RvWQ1nfl8X
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) December 19, 2025
He’s right. I’ve covered this so much, and it boggles my mind that so many on the left, and a few on the right, will side with cartels and narcos over the American people. Even just this past Wednesday night, the House of Representatives voted on War Powers Resolutions aimed at limiting Trump’s powers against narco-terrorists. Only two Democrats could find it within themselves to vote with the majority of Republicans against these resolutions. Two. And both of them are in Texas, a state that probably has a better idea about this stuff than most of the rest of the country.
You can read more about that here: House Dems Prove Once Again That They Sure Do Love Narco-Terrorists.
He also mentioned Colombia, and I won’t get too into this, but people like to lump it in with Venezuela because the country currently has a lunatic for a president, Gustavo Petro, who wobbles back and forth on whether he’s Team Maduro or not before talking about jaguars and erotic poetry. I guess it depends on how much cocaína he’s had that day.
Despite that, United States-Colombian ties are strong. The country’s people and institutions, and even much of its legislative branch, are all great allies. Colombians go to the polls in May, and with any luck, they’ll elect someone more credible to lead the country and willing to maintain that relationship. Rubio said it doesn’t matter if it’s a center-left or center-right president; we just want someone we can work with on improving our region.
You can watch Rubio’s entire briefing here if you are bored and/or just a foreign policy geek like myself.
While he wasn’t busy addressing the press, Rubio actually talked to and met with some important allies from our hemisphere this week. Personally, I was thrilled to see him doing this himself instead of focusing on Europe and the Middle East. I adore Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau — he’s doing an amazing job — but I think it’s important for Rubio to make these appearances as well. Just my opinion.
For example, he met with Paraguay’s Foreign Minister Ramírez, and he also spoke with Chile’s new president-elect, José Antonio Kast. I’m looking forward to seeing what kind of partnership we build with that country.
Maduro Gives Himself a Peace Prize
Every week, I think to myself, what is Maduro going to do that I can mock in this column? He never lets me down. This week, he was awarded the Arquitecto de la Paz or “Architect of Peace” prize by a pro-regime organization called Sociedad Bolivariana de Venezuela. He got a sash and medal and was praised for being the one to “whom we owe the peace of Venezuela – and of Latin America and of the entire world.”
If you’re thinking this sounds like Maduro was jealous of all the attention opposition leader María Corina Machado received last week when she escaped Venezuela and went to Oslo to collect her legitimate Nobel Peace Prize, so he had this organization award him with his own version, you’d be correct. Even so, Maduro claims he was muy surprised at the gesture, but that’s about like me pretending I’m shocked when the Christmas presents I just ordered myself arrive via Amazon next week.
“Peace will be my harbor, peace will be my glory, peace will be all I desire, and peace will always be our victory,” Maduro said during the ceremony. I know a couple of thousand political prisoners, countless exiles, and millions of migrants who might claim otherwise.
It’s in Spanish, but if you want to watch the big event, have at it.
Maduro recibió el premio: “Arquitecto de la paz”, concedido por Maduro 🤣
El Nobel todavía los tiene respirando por la herida.pic.twitter.com/sDDZvIZCOj
— Emmanuel Rincón (@EmmaRincon) December 19, 2025
When he was not patting himself on the back for driving a nation into the ground and becoming the laughingstock of the Free World, Maduro spent most of the rest of the week crying about imperialism because Trump cut off his dirty lifeline and ordered a total blockade of sanctioned oil tankers, which you can read more about from Catherine Salgado here: Trump Orders Complete Blockade of Venezuelan Tankers.
Oh, and speaking of Machado, she’s no longer in Oslo. No one seems to know where she is, but Rubio did mention today that she may come to the United States at some point. I can’t imagine that she wouldn’t. However, we did learn this week that she actually fractured a vertebra during her harrowing escape from Venezuela, but she’s supposedly in good spirits and recovering well. We wish her the best.
A Few More Things
I’ll wrap this up with a few more things that have happened this week.
1. There is not much to report on the Honduran elections. Same drama, different day. The guy Trump endorsed, Nasry Asfura, still has a narrow lead, but the country’s CNE is currently doing a manual recount of many of the votes, and current commie President Xiomara Castro says she will respect whatever the decision is and promises a peaceful transition of power. We’ll see about that.
2. As I reported yesterday, every time Trump says we have the seas under control and now we’ll do the land, people scream, “WAR IN VENEZUELA!!!!!” That’s not necessarily what he means, but the reality doesn’t make for a flashy headline. What it means right now is exactly what Rubio touched on earlier — we have allies in the region who want to join forces to clean up all of our countries, and we’re doing that.
The example I wrote about yesterday is Ecuador. It’s not getting any MSM coverage. I’m not even sure many people here read it (apparently, I didn’t use a good enough stock photo), but I’m determined to continue reporting on this regardless: The U.S. Sends Troops Into Latin America — But Not to Venezuela
In an overwhelmingly supportive vote, Costa Rica’s legislature also approved allowing our Coast Guard to access that country’s ports in 2026 to counter drug-trafficking. I’ll probably write more about that in the days ahead, but here are the basics.
3. Earlier today, I wrote about how we have even more proof of the harm Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua is doing to our country: Dozens Indicted in Massive ATM Scheme — Guess Who Was Behind It?
5. On Sunday, Chile voted for its own “Trump-like” president, continuing an exciting trend in our hemisphere: Swing to the Right: Another Country Elects a New Trump-Like Candidate
6. If you need another reason to mock Maduro, I wrote about some of the props he uses to make his regime look big, bad, and successful, ranging from fake food to the 1990s-era computer parts that he claims are NVIDIA-like chips that he is going to start producing soon: World Leader Pretend: Maduro’s Hilarious Prop-Driven Propaganda.
7. The State Department designated Clan del Golfo as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) this week. That’s a violent criminal organization in Colombia.
8. And as I’m wrapping this up, I just got word that the U.S. is sanctioning several members of Maduro’s family as of today. How much more pressure can he take? It’s mounting quickly, and Rubio said today that nothing is off the table.
Well, that’s it for me. I’ll be working most of next week, so I hope y’all will check in from time to time, but if you’re off enjoying the holiday season, I want to go ahead and wish you a Merry Christmas.
As I say, Rubio isn’t handing me exclusives… yet. But I bet you know what’s on my list for Santa. Here’s to 2026 being the year we make it happen.
If you enjoy columns like these, and you’ve ever considered becoming a PJ Media VIP member, now is the perfect time. We’re running a HUGE 74% off sale through the Christmas season. Join today and pay just $12.74 to gain access for the entire year. Not only do you get perks, like an ad-free experience, the chance to interact with our team, and access to exclusive stories, but you also ensure that we can continue to bring you the stories the mainstream media won’t in 2026. With the midterms coming up, conservative voices are more important than ever. Click here to sign up today and use the code word MERRY74 to get the discount. We’ll see you in the comments sections!
