Rubio on Maduro and Cartel de los Soles: We have to confront them with 'something more than just rewards'

Marco Rubio referred to the possibility of confronting Nicolás Maduro with "something more than just rewards." In an interview with the radio program "Sid and Friends in the Morning," the secretary of state was asked about Venezuela's dictator, whom he described not as a government official, but as the leader of the Cartel de los Soles.

As the head of a drug trafficking logistics organization, the secretary had this to say about Maduro: "At some point we have to say we are going to confront these people, and we have to confront them with more than rewards, by the way."

The statement came just days after the Trump administration authorized the Department of Defense to lead precise military operations in Latin America against foreign drug cartels.

According to a report by the New York Times on the measure, it provides an unprecedented legal basis for the U.S. military to conduct direct operations against cartels. Previously, Rubio had accused Maduro of leading the Cartel de los Soles.

"He's not a government official. In essence, we don't recognize his government as legitimate. That is not a legitimate government. What he is is the head of a drug trafficking logistics organization – a cartel, the Cartel of the Suns, which is basically run by the military. So they need to be treated for what it is, which is not a government, not a dictatorship per se; it is a drug cartel. It is a narco-terrorist regime that's empowered itself of Venezuelan territory," Rubio expressed.

"So they need to be treated for what it is, which is not a government, not a dictatorship per se; it is a drug cartel. It is a narco-terrorist regime that’s empowered itself of Venezuelan territory. And from there it extends down to the Mexican cartels, the gangs in Ecuador and through Central America. But we’ve got to take this stuff seriously," he added.

The Trump administration also doubled the reward for information leading to Maduro's arrest or conviction, adjusting it from $25 million to $50 million. This is the largest reward ever offered by the United States for information on a terrorist or drug trafficker. The previous record was shared by Osama bin Laden and Aiman Al-Zawahiri, terrorists, leaders of the Al Qaeda group and architects of the September 11 attacks.