CUCUTA, Colombia: US Senator Marco Rubio, visiting the Colombia-Venezuela border on Sunday, warned Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro of severe consequences if he takes action against the country’s opposition leader and self-declared president or US citizens.
In a televised interview, Rubio declined to say if he would support US military action against Venezuela, which is mired in a political and economic crisis.
But the Republican senator said he was confident that US President Donald Trump’s administration would not stand by if the Venezuelan government harmed or imprisoned opposition leader Juan Guaido, who declared himself interim president last month.
“There are certain lines and Maduro knows what they are,” Rubio, a senator from Florida seen as an influential voice on Venezuela policy in Washington, told CNN. “The consequences will be severe and they will be swift.”
Rubio also warned Maduro against harming US personnel working in the country and said the United States would also respond if aide workers were targeted.
The senator was part of a US delegation visiting the Colombian border city of Cucuta, where humanitarian aid is being stockpiled for planned delivery to Venezuela.
While Maduro is refusing to allow in the food, medicine and other supplies, Guaido has vowed to move hundreds of tons of the aid into the country on Saturday.
Guaido has said he will announce details on Monday of how he plans to get the aid into the country from Colombia, Brazil and Curacao, despite Maduro’s opposition.
The Feb. 23 deadline sets the stage for a showdown with Maduro, who calls the aid a US-orchestrated show and denies any crisis despite many Venezuelans’ scant access to food and medicine. It is unclear whether the military will allow aid to cross the border.
Most Western countries and many of Venezuela’s neighbors have recognized Guaido as the legitimate head of state after Maduro won a second term in an election last year that critics denounced as a sham. Maduro retains the backing of Russia and China and control of Venezuelan state institutions including the military.
The US delegation included Carlos Trujillo, the US ambassador to the Organization of American States, and Republican US Representative Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida.
US Sen. Rubio warns Venezuela’s Maduro not to act against opposition
US Sen. Rubio warns Venezuela’s Maduro not to act against opposition
- Venezuelan President Maduro is refusing to allow in the food, medicine and other supplies donated by the US
- Rubio was part of a US delegation visiting the Colombian border city of Cucuta, where humanitarian aid is being stockpiled
Las Vegas police investigate terrorism event after vehicle rammed into power substation
LAS VEGAS: Las Vegas police say they’re investigating a car that rammed into a power substation as a ” terrorism-related event.”
There’s no ongoing threat to the public, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Sheriff Kevin McMahill said during a news conference Friday.
The driver of the vehicle was 23-year-old Dawson Maloney from Albany, New York, who was reported missing and died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, McMahill said.
The man had communicated with family before the crash, referencing self-harm, and said he was going to commit an act that would place him on the news. He referred to himself as a terrorist in a message sent to his mother, according to police.
Authorities found explosive materials and multiple books “related to extremist ideologies” in Maloney’s hotel room, McMahill said. The books included ones about right- and left-wing extremism, environmental extremism, white supremacism and anti-government ideology, he said.
“These findings significantly elevate the seriousness of this incident,” McMahill said.
Maloney is listed as a student at Albany Law School in the class of 2027. He was also an honors student for multiple semesters at Siena University, located in New York.
Two shotguns, an assault rifle-style pistol, and flame throwers were found in his rental car, McMahill said. Maloney was wearing what police described as “soft-body armor.”
Authorities recovered a 3D printer and several gun components needed to assemble a firearm from an Albany residence.
Boulder City is a historic town located approximately 25 miles southeast of Las Vegas and home to the Hoover Dam, which is considered one of the country’s modern civil engineering wonders. The dam provides water to millions of people and generates an average of 4 billion kilowatt-hours of hydroelectric power each year for Nevada, Arizona and California.
The power substation that was rammed is owned by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. The facility works closely with Hoover Dam and transfers power to the Los Angeles basin, McMahill said. The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power said in a statement to The Associated Press that it is aware of the incident, and there were no impacts or disruptions to its operations.
Boulder City Police Chief Timothy Shea said there is no evidence of major damage to critical infrastructure and no service disruptions.
A similar incident occurred in 2023 when a man rammed a car through a fence at a solar power facility in the desert northeast of Las Vegas, setting the car on fire. The solar power facility served Las Vegas Strip casinos. He was declared unfit for trial. That attack followed several incidents and arrests involving electrical substations in states including Washington, Oregon and North Carolina and concerns expressed by federal officials about the security of the nation’s electricity transmission network.
“We are heartbroken to hear of the tragic passing of one of our law students, Dawson Maloney, in an off-campus incident,” said Tom Torello, director of communications and marketing at Albany Law School, in a statement.
