Rubio States That the U.S. Has Every Right to Operate Militarily in "Its Hemisphere"

The United States Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, stated this Wednesday that his country's military forces have every right to operate in "its hemisphere" and that Europe is in no position to determine the legality of operations against boats in the Caribbean allegedly loaded with drugs.

Rubio also affirmed that during the G7 foreign ministers' meeting, which concluded this Wednesday in the Canadian town of Niagara-on-the-Lake, the legality of his country's attacks on vessels in the Caribbean—in which dozens of people have died—was not discussed.

In statements to the media, Rubio assured that at no point during the G7 foreign ministers' meeting was the issue of the attacks on vessels in the Caribbean raised, and that no country confronted him about Washington's actions.

"No one discussed it with me. No one at the meeting discussed it, not with me. Maybe they discussed it among themselves but it was not raised in any of the meetings we had, neither last night nor today," he stated categorically when asked if the military operations in the Caribbean had been addressed.

Subsequently, when a journalist noted that the European Union's top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, had raised the legality of the operations, Rubio denied that Europe can interfere in U.S. policy.

"I don't think the European Union can determine what international law is. They certainly cannot determine how the United States defends its national security. The United States is being attacked by terrorist criminal organizations in our hemisphere and President (Donald Trump) is responding in defense of our country," he added.

Rubio Suggests European Position is Hypocritical

Rubio also suggested that the European position is hypocritical.

"I find it interesting that all these countries want us to provide them with, for example, nuclear-capable Tomahawk missiles to defend Europe, but when the U.S. positions aircraft carriers in our hemisphere, where we live, then that's a problem," he said.

In addition to the G7 representatives, the meeting was attended by the EU's top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, and the foreign ministers of Ukraine, Brazil, Mexico, Australia, India, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, South Korea, and South Africa. Rubio held bilateral meetings with several of his counterparts.

During her final press conference, the host of the meeting, Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand, stated that the U.S. attacks on the boats had not been discussed.