2026年3月24日 美国东部时间下午1:31 / 福克斯新闻
[国务卿马尔科·卢比奥]周二在联邦法庭出庭作证，该案件涉及前迈阿密国会议员、室友大卫·里维拉（David Rivera），他被指控代表前委内瑞拉总统尼古拉斯·马杜罗（Nicolás Maduro）游说国会和白宫成员。
卢比奥在迈阿密一个安保升级的拥挤联邦法庭作证时表示，21世纪初两人都在佛罗里达州议会任职6年，期间关系“非常密切”。共和党人里维拉[于2022年12月被捕]，被指控洗钱和未注册代表外国政府。
2017年7月，卢比奥称他接到里维拉的紧急电话，对方表示需要紧急见面讨论委内瑞拉问题。次日上午，里维拉前往华盛顿，在其家中的会面中称，他正与委内瑞拉媒体大亨劳尔·戈林（Raul Gorrin）合作推进一项计划，说服马杜罗下台。
据美联社报道，卢比奥在证词中称：“我持怀疑态度”，并补充说马杜罗政府充满“两面派”，他们不断提出背叛马杜罗的计划。
[委内瑞拉德尔西·罗德里格斯取代受制裁的忠实国防部长，任命军事情报负责人]
2026年1月9日，国务卿马尔科·卢比奥在白宫东厅与油气企业高管会面。（Alex Wong/Getty Images）
“但如果有1%的可能性是真实的，而我有责任提醒白宫，我愿意这么做，”他补充道。
美联社报道称，在几天内，卢比奥借用里维拉提供的话术要点，在参议院发表演讲，暗示美国不会报复那些试图将马杜罗赶下台的委内瑞拉政府内部人士。
“他让我了解到政权内部人士希望听到的一些关键措辞，以表明这是认真的，”卢比奥作证说，“不进行报复，不实施惩罚。”
在针对里维拉的起诉书中，没有迹象表明卢比奥当时作为参议员的行为不当。
这些指控与里维拉与委内瑞拉社会主义政府签署的一份5000万美元咨询合同有关。
起诉书指控，在特朗普政府执政初期，里维拉参与了一项阴谋，代表委内瑞拉游说以降低与美国的紧张关系、解决与美国石油公司的法律纠纷，并终止对南美国家的美国制裁——所有这些都未作为外国代理人注册。
[卢比奥称古巴需“换新人掌权”，因停电和动荡席卷岛国]
前国会议员大卫·里维拉于2026年3月24日在佛罗里达州迈阿密的詹姆斯·劳伦斯·金联邦司法大楼外对媒体讲话。（Joe Raedle/Getty Images）
作为其工作的一部分，里维拉和他的同案被告被指控试图安排当时的外交部长德尔西·罗德里格斯（现委内瑞拉代理总统）在达拉斯、纽约、华盛顿和委内瑞拉加拉加斯与白宫官员、国会议员以及埃克森美孚首席执行官会面。
检察官称，为掩盖活动，同案被告及其他人成立了一个名为“MIA”（迈阿密）的聊天群组，使用西班牙语暗语，如“小古巴人”指代卢比奥、“红衣女士”指代罗德里格斯、“瓜”指代数百万美元。
“本案涉及两件事：贪婪和背叛，”检察官罗杰·克鲁兹在周一的开庭陈述中表示，“证据将显示，为了5000万美元，这两名被告密谋秘密为尼古拉斯·马杜罗以及罗德里格斯进行游说。”
60岁的里维拉反驳称，他的个人公司“美洲间咨询公司”受委内瑞拉国有石油公司的美国子公司雇佣——而非该公司本身——因此无需作为外国代理人注册。
其律师表示，为期三个月的合同仅专注于吸引埃克森重返委内瑞拉——此类商业工作通常不受《外国代理人注册法》约束。
里维拉的辩护称，与该咨询工作完全独立的是他与委内瑞拉反对派合作，为马杜罗的倒台铺路。
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福克斯新闻数字记者格雷格·诺曼
福克斯新闻的吉莉安·特纳、福克斯新闻数字版的丹妮尔·华莱士和美联社对此报道有贡献。
Rubio testifies in trial of ex-Florida congressman allegedly hired by Maduro government to lobby for Venezuela
March 24, 2026 1:31pm EDT / Fox News
[Secretary of State Marco Rubio] is testifying Tuesday in the trial of former Miami congressman and roommate David Rivera, who is accused of trying to lobby members of Congress and the White House on behalf of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
Rubio, testifying in a packed federal courtroom in Miami with heightened security, said he and Rivera became “very close” when both overlapped for six years as members of the Florida Legislature in the early 2000s. Rivera, a Republican, [was arrested in December 2022] on charges of money laundering and representing a foreign government without registering.
In July 2017, Rubio said he got a call from Rivera saying he needed to see him urgently to [discuss Venezuela]. The next morning, Rivera traveled to Washington and, at a meeting at his home, said he was working with Raul Gorrin, a media magnate in Venezuela who was Rivera’s main conduit to the Maduro government, on a plan to persuade Maduro to step aside.
“I was skeptical,” said Rubio during his testimony, according to The Associated Press, adding that the Maduro government was full of “double dealers” who were constantly pitching plans to betray Maduro.
[VENEZUELA’S DELCY RODRIGUEZ REPLACES SANCTIONED LOYALIST DEFENSE MINISTER WITH MILITARY INTEL HEAD]
Secretary of State Marco Rubio during a meeting with oil and gas executives in the East Room of the White House on Jan. 9, 2026.(Alex Wong/Getty Images)
“But if there was a 1%chance it was real, and I had a role to play alerting the White House, I was open to doing that,” he added.
Within days, borrowing talking points provided by Rivera, Rubio wrote and delivered a speech on the Senate floor signaling the U.S. would not retaliate against Venezuelan government insiders who worked to push Maduro from power, the AP reported.
“He provided me with insight into some of the key phrases that regime insiders would’ve wanted to hear to know this was serious,” Rubio testified. “No vengeance, no retribution.”
In the indictment against Rivera,there’s no indication that Rubio acted improperly as a senator at the time.
The allegations come in connection to a $50 million consulting contract Rivera signed with Venezuela’s socialist government.
The indictment alleges Rivera, at the start of the Trump administration, was part of a conspiracy to lobby on behalf of Venezuela to lower tensions with the U.S., resolve a legal dispute with a U.S. oil company and end U.S. sanctions against the South American nation — all without registering as a foreign agent.
[RUBIO SAYS CUBA NEEDS ‘NEW PEOPLE IN CHARGE’ AS BLACKOUTS, UNREST GRIP ISLAND]
Former Congressman David Rivera addresses members of the press outside the James Lawrence King Federal Justice building in Miami, Florida, on March 24, 2026.(Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
As part of his work, Rivera and his co-defendant are accused of trying to arrange meetings for then-Foreign Minister Delcy Rodríguez — now Venezuela’s acting president — in Dallas, New York, Washington and Caracas, Venezuela, with White House officials, members of Congress and the chief executive officer of Exxon Mobil.
To cloak their activities, prosecutors said, the co-defendants and others set up a chat group called MIA — for Miami — in which they used Spanish-language code words like “Little Cuban” for Rubio, “The Lady in Red” for Rodríguez and “melons” for millions of dollars.
“This case is about two things: greed and betrayal,” prosecutor Roger Cruz said in his opening statement Monday. “The evidence will show that for $50 million these two defendants made a pact to secretly lobby for Nicolás Maduro,” as well as for Rodríguez.
Rivera, 60, counters that his one-man firm, Interamerican Consulting, was hired by an American subsidiary of Venezuela’s state-owned oil company — not the company itself — and therefore did not need to register as a foreign agent.
His three-month contract, his attorney says, was focused exclusively on luring Exxon back to Venezuela — commercial work that is generally exempt from the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
Security teams conduct vehicle inspections outside the James Lawrence King Federal Justice Building in Miami, Florida, on March 24, 2026.(Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
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Separate and wholly distinct from that consulting work were his efforts with the Venezuelan opposition to pave the way for Maduro’s exit, Rivera’s defense said.
Fox News’ Gillian Turner, Fox News Digital’s Danielle Wallace and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Greg Norman is a reporter at Fox News Digital.
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