With the US military's overthrow and snatching of Venezuela's firebrand president Nicolas Maduro, Rubio is savoring victory -- but the outcome came only after compromises that again left many wondering where the old Rubio had gone.

Rubio, the first Latino to serve as US secretary of state, will enjoy a unique role in charting the future of oil-rich Venezuela, with President Donald Trump saying Rubio and other aides will call the shots.

Rubio had for years called Maduro illegitimate. Speaking as a senator in 2023, Rubio demanded further sanctions on Maduro's Venezuela without free elections and vowed that "a democratic transition of power must be prioritized."

Now, Rubio said, it is "premature" to discuss elections. Trump has brushed aside democratic opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, whose Nobel Peace Prize he coveted, and has sought to work with Maduro's deputy, Delcy Rodriguez, so long as she accedes to his demands including letting in US oil companies.

"I don't think this is the real Rubio. This is the realpolitik Rubio," said Brett Bruen, a former US diplomat who served in Venezuela.

"He sees an opportunity and is willing to forego some of his positions on human rights, democracy, the role of America as guarantor of global stability, in the pursuit of the prize of dethroning Maduro and, potentially, communist control of Cuba," he said.

Venezuela supplied about half of Cuba's oil needs.

Rubio, hours after Maduro's fall, said: "If I lived in Havana and I was in the government, I'd be concerned at least a little bit."

'Little Marco' to 'normal' Trump person 

When Trump tapped Rubio as secretary of state, the nomination initially caused groans within Trump's MAGA movement.

The two had run bitterly against each other in 2016 for the Republican presidential nomination, with Trump infamously mocking his rival as "Little Marco," who for his part suggested that the real estate tycoon had an unusually small penis.

The rift appears long over. Rubio has loyally stood by Trump's side and taken on the additional job of national security advisor, the first person to hold both key foreign policy jobs since Henry Kissinger.

The dual-hat means Rubio spends much of his time at the White House with Trump rather than the constant globe-trotting of many previous secretaries of state.

Rubio's sullen face became a meme as he appeared to sink into the White House couch on February 28, when Trump and Vice President JD Vance berated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who relies on US support against Russia.

"We thought of Rubio as the 'normal' person in the administration, the one we can talk to," one diplomat from a US ally said on condition of anonymity.

"But of course it's clear that priority number one for him is Trump," the diplomat said.

Never breaking with Trump 

During his 14 years as senator, Rubio was generally well-liked by his colleagues, who unanimously confirmed him as secretary of state -- a rarity in such polarized times.

He has since gained MAGA stardom not for his diplomacy overseas but for zealously revoking visas of thousands of foreigners, including students who protested against Israel.

Some Democrats have since said they regretted voting for Rubio.

Asked about the criticism in a year-end news conference in which he took a marathon 46 questions, Rubio said that having a secretary of state who disagrees with the president is "stupid, really."

But Trump's abrasive tone still is at odds with the old Rubio.

The 54-year-old top American diplomat is the son of immigrants who fled Fidel Castro's Cuba.

In his 2012 autobiography, "American Son," Rubio wrote, "I can't stand to hear immigrants described in terms more appropriate to a plague of locusts than human beings."

He came from a family that "felt a deep pain at the loss of their country," he recalled. "They could never return to Cuba as long as Castro remained in power. That made them exiles in their hearts, and in mine."

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