After the Donald Trump administration captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and extradited him to the United States, Florida, where the related press conference was held, is rapidly reemerging as the center of U.S. politics.
South Florida is home to the Mar-a-Lago resort owned by President Trump, and he has used the area as his political base since the presidential race two years ago. President Trump carried out the transition at Mar-a-Lago and appointed many key administration figures from Florida, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Florida's presence stood out on the diplomatic stage as well. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff held talks in Florida with figures from Russia and Ukraine, and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner was involved in mediating Gaza peace talks from his home in an upscale residential area near Miami. Major diplomatic negotiations were held in Florida rather than Washington in quick succession. The Group of 20 (G20) summit is also scheduled to be held in Miami at the end of this year.
What once again underscored Florida's rise as the center of U.S. politics was the operation to arrest Maduro. President Trump stayed at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach during the holiday and ordered the arrest of Maduro, and the press conference announcing on the 3rd (local time) that U.S. troops had captured Maduro was also held there.
On the 7th, the New York Times (NYT) reported, "The clearest example of South Florida's outsized influence is the ouster of President Maduro," adding, "This military action is the result of years of behind-the-scenes efforts by Minister Rubio and other Cuban Americans."
According to the NYT, South Florida, centered on Miami, has long lobbied presidents aggressively on Latin America and the Caribbean, especially on Cuba. Cubans who fled to Miami after the 1959 Cuban Revolution began organizing politically in the early 1980s and exerted considerable influence on President Trump's reelection victory.
According to the report, last year the Trump administration held talks with figures close to Maduro, but Minister Rubio argued that improving ties with Venezuela could weaken the support of Cuban American House members for bills pushed by President Trump. The Trump administration then took a tougher line, including designating the Maduro regime as a foreign terrorist organization.
The success of the operation to arrest Maduro is also being credited in large part to the role of Minister Rubio, who is of Cuban descent. Cuban American politicians, including Minister Rubio, persuaded President Trump to adopt a hard-line policy toward Venezuela, similar to Cuba. Carlos Curbelo, a Cuban American and former Republican representative from Miami, said, "If Marco Rubio had not been secretary of state, this would not have happened."