With Maduro gone, Rubio's political fortunes are tied to Venezuela's

FILE PHOTO: U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrives to brief members of Congress on the situation in Venezuela, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., January 5, 2026. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/File Photo

WASHINGTON, Jan 13 (Reuters) - Marco Rubio's sweeping influence in Trump's ‌second administration — juggling posts from secretary of state to national security advisor — has sparked a wave of AI-generated memes, including a recent one portraying him in military garb as Venezuela's ruler.

The online joke is ‌particularly resonant for Rubio, a son of Cuban immigrants who long has trained his ire on the Communist-run nation's most important regional ally, Venezuela, and its longtime leader, Nicolas Maduro, who was seized ‌by U.S. forces on January 3 on allegations of drug trafficking.