US President Donald Trump on Saturday warned Columbia, Cuba, and Mexico following the military operation in Venezuela and President Nicolás Maduro’s capture hinting that these Latin American countries could be next. The thinly-veiled warning came after Trump suggested that the US is not afraid to put “boots on the ground” in the region amid suspicions of narco terrorism.
In a pointed message to Mexico’s leader right after announcing the takedown of Maduro, Trump said that the attack on Venezuela was not meant to be warning for the country, but that “something’s going to have to be done” about a nation gripped by cartels.
Tensions have simmered between Trump and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, especially over US trade tariffs. Trump has accused her administration of failing to stem the tide of illegal immigration and drugs pouring across the southern border. Speaking candidly on Fox & Friends, he remarked, “We’re very friendly with her, she’s a good woman.” Yet he drove home a stark reality: “But the cartels are running Mexico — she’s not running Mexico.”
Sheinbaum fired back swiftly in a Saturday statement, declaring Mexico “strongly condemns and rejects” the US military action in Venezuela and calling on America to halt “all acts of aggression against the Venezuelan government and people.”
Trump Warns Gustavo Petro Needs To ‘Watch His A**’
Trump also ramped up pressure on Colombia’s Gustavo Petro, accusing him of overseeing cocaine production. “He has cocaine mills, he has factories where he makes cocaine. And yeah, I think I stick by my first statement: He’s making cocaine,” Trump stated from Mar-a-Lago, fresh off labeling Maduro a “narco-terrorist,” The New York Post quoted Trump as saying.
He warned bluntly, “They’re sending it to the United States. So he does have to watch his ass.”
This follows Trump’s earlier jab weeks ago, when he called Petro a “troublemaker” and told him to “better watch it.” Petro has kept up a steady stream of online critiques against the US moves in Venezuela.
Trump’s Warning To Cuba
Trump also took aim at Cuba, a key Maduro ally that provides oil and security support. He described the island nation under President Miguel Díaz-Canel as a “failing nation,” saying, “Cuba, as you know, is not doing very well right now. That system has not been a very good one for Cuba. The people there have suffered for many, many years, and I think Cuba is going to be something we’ll end up talking about, because Cuba is a failing nation right now.”
“It’s very similar in the sense that we want to help the people in Cuba, but we want to also help the people that were forced out of Cuba and living in this country,” he added.
Echoing that sentiment, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, once a Florida senator known for his tough stance on Cuba, branded the communist regime a “disaster” led by “incompetent senile men.”
