US Senator Marco Rubio made an unusual reference to Paraguay during an interview on the podcast of Donald Trump's former advisor Katie Miller. He recounted, in a joking tone, his experience with the ketogenic diet, known as keto, about five years ago, describing the first 72 hours without sugar or carbohydrates as a "psychotic break."
Rubio took the anecdote to the extreme by imagining what it would be like if he had gone through that withdrawal while holding his current position. "If I did this in this job, I would go in and say: 'Mr. President, we have to bomb, I don't know, Paraguay,'" he said, laughing, referring to Donald Trump. And he added: "And if they asked me 'why?', I would answer: 'I don't know, I'm just very angry because I haven't eaten sugar.'"
The Senator made it clear that it was a joke about the initial effects of the diet and not a political statement. He also emphasized that he is not against keto but admitted that "it's not for everyone."
The mention came a week before the signing of a memorandum of understanding on civil nuclear matters between Rubio and Paraguayan Foreign Minister Rubén Ramírez Lezcano, which will allow Paraguay to survey uranium and rare earths. So far, the Paraguayan Ministry of Foreign Affairs has not commented on the US Senator's joke.