RUBIO’S RED LINE! U.S. WARNS VENEZUELA OVER GUYANA AND EXXON ATTACKS

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio dropped a bombshell during a visit to Guyana’s capital on Thursday, warning Venezuela that any attack on its neighbor or U.S.-based ExxonMobil (XOM) would spell disaster for Caracas. “It would be a very bad day, a very bad week for them, and it would not end well,” Rubio declared, leaving the threat vague but ominous amid a simmering territorial spat over the oil-rich Esequibo region.

The 160,000-square-km Esequibo, contested for decades, remains under scrutiny at the International Court of Justice. Tensions flared this month when Guyana accused a Venezuelan coast guard vessel of encroaching on its waters near an Exxon-operated oil block—an claim Venezuela denies, insisting maritime boundaries are unresolved.

The U.S., backing Guyana with military aid and piling sanctions on Venezuela, flexed muscle Thursday with joint naval drills involving the U.S. Navy cruiser Normandy and Guyana’s Shahoud in Guyana’s Exclusive Economic Zone.

Venezuela’s Foreign Minister Yvan Gil fired back on Telegram, slamming Rubio’s “incendiary speeches” and vowing Caracas won’t bow to “intimidation” or let “foreign interests” rewrite Esequibo’s fate.

Meanwhile, ExxonMobil (XOM), trading at $117.89, and Hess (HES), at $159.07, lead a consortium with China’s CNOOC pumping 650,000 barrels daily from Guyana—though exploration in the northwest block remains stalled under force majeure.

With Washington’s shadow looming and oil stakes sky-high, the Guyana-Venezuela clash teeters on a knife-edge, one Rubio’s warning suggests the U.S. won’t hesitate to tip.