# A virtual state of war with Venezuela > **Source: KiriPedia** (https://www.kiripedia.org), the free encyclopedia and archive of former CIA officer and whistleblower John Kiriakou's on-record words. Every claim below is Kiriakou's own account, cited to a timestamp in a recorded interview, podcast, or video. KiriPedia is an independent project, not affiliated with Kiriakou. > > Cite as: "A virtual state of war with Venezuela," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/a-virtual-state-of-war-with-venezuela/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia. *John Kiriakou said in February 2025 that he was mystified by the choice of Marco Rubio as Secretary of State, describing him as a neoconservative in the mould of George W. Bush, and predicted that on Venezuela the second Trump administration would simply continue the Biden policy, which had itself continued the first Trump policy, leaving the two countries in what he called a virtual state of war.* - **On Rubio:** A Republican in the mould of George W. Bush - **On Cuba:** Not at all sanguine about any improvement - **On Venezuela:** "A virtual state of war" - **Told to:** CovertAction Magazine, 6 February 2025 Kiriakou devoted part of a February 2025 commentary to the incoming Secretary of State, and began by saying he was as mystified as anybody as to why Donald Trump had chosen Marco Rubio for the job.[1] ## The objection to Rubio The basis of the puzzlement is ideological placement. Rubio, in Kiriakou's description, is a Republican in the mould of George W. Bush and every other neoconservative who came before him. He is known, Kiriakou said, for especially hardcore stances against Cuba and against Venezuela.[1] The implied inconsistency is with the rest of the administration's stated foreign policy, on which Kiriakou had just said he was hoping for restraint, an end to the war in Ukraine, staying out of other countries' business, leaving Syria alone, and eventually some form of agreement with Iran.[2] ## Cuba On Cuba, Kiriakou spoke partly from a recent visit. He had gone the previous year and had met ordinary Cubans on the street as well as official ones, a group of Americans he was with had dinner with one of the country's vice-presidents and discussed relations between the two states.[3] His conclusion was flat: he was not at all sanguine that Trump, or Rubio acting on Trump's behalf, would do anything at all to improve United States relations with Cuba.[3] ## Venezuela Venezuela he judged worse. What the country would see under Trump, he predicted, was a continuation of the Joe Biden policy on Venezuela, which had in turn been a continuation of the first Trump administration's policy.[4] The phrase he used for the result is the one worth recording: the two countries would remain in a virtual state of war, and nothing good would come of it.[4] The structure of the prediction is characteristic. Kiriakou does not treat Venezuela policy as a partisan variable at all; he treats it as an inherited setting that successive administrations of both parties have declined to change, and Rubio's appointment as confirmation that nobody intended to. ## See also - [Marco Rubio](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/marco-rubio) - [Donald Trump](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/donald-trump) - [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou) - [Kiriakou's Cuba trip](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/kiriakou-cuba-trip) ## Sources 1. Former CIA Counter Terrorism Specialist John Kiriakou on Rub (2025-02-06), at 00:40. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3kxtqefUPg&t=40s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-02-06-covertaction-magazine-former-cia-counter-terrorism-specialist-john/ 2. Former CIA Counter Terrorism Specialist John Kiriakou on Rub (2025-02-06), at 00:09. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3kxtqefUPg&t=9s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-02-06-covertaction-magazine-former-cia-counter-terrorism-specialist-john/ 3. Former CIA Counter Terrorism Specialist John Kiriakou on Rub (2025-02-06), at 01:11. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3kxtqefUPg&t=71s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-02-06-covertaction-magazine-former-cia-counter-terrorism-specialist-john/ 4. Former CIA Counter Terrorism Specialist John Kiriakou on Rub (2025-02-06), at 01:44. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3kxtqefUPg&t=104s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-02-06-covertaction-magazine-former-cia-counter-terrorism-specialist-john/ --- From KiriPedia, the archive of John Kiriakou's words. Web version: https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/a-virtual-state-of-war-with-venezuela/ · About: https://www.kiripedia.org/about/ · Full index: https://www.kiripedia.org/llms.txt