Top Rubio adviser for Venezuela and Cuba leaves State Dept.
Jeremy Lewin, one of Secretary of State Marco Rubio's key advisers, is exiting the Trump administration ahead of the midterms.Why it matters: Lewin played crucial roles in shaping the administration's foreign policy, particularly in normalizing relations between the U.S. and Venezuela after the Jan. 3 ouster of Nicolas Maduro.Lewin first entered the federal government via Elon Musk's DOGE effort to cut government spending.He is getting married and has a job lined up in the private sector after he returns from his honeymoon.Zoom in: Lewin, 29, has been the youngest-ever under secretary and director of policy planning at the State Department. In his two years at the department, Lewin:Led U.S. engagement with Venezuela's new leader, Delcy Rodriguez; helped assemble Trump's massive oil deal with that nation; implemented economic revitalization plans there, and was the State Department's point person for earthquake relief in Caracas.Led the bilateral U.S.-Cuba talks in Havana with Raul Castro's grandson, Raulito Castro, and helped implement the State Department's sanctions against the island's government.Was part of the administration's negotiating team for the Greenland Security Agree…