Rubio: Venezuela's threat to US reduced, unlike Cuba's ongoing challenges

Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated Venezuela no longer poses the same national-security threat to the U.S. due to reforms by interim authorities. Rubio cited the removal of highly enriched uranium, oversight of oil revenues, and closure of a notorious prison as progress, though democratic transition remains incomplete. He contrasted Venezuela with Cuba, which he described as trapped under a military-controlled economy incapable of meaningful reform, leading to worsening hardship for ordinary Cubans.