Segun Atanda/
President Donald Trump has escalated his confrontational foreign policy rhetoric, openly threatening action against several countries after a deadly United States raid in Venezuela that captured President Nicolás Maduro and left at least 80 soldiers and civilians dead.
Barely a day after the operation in Caracas, Trump indicated that Venezuela may be only the first in a widening list of targets, singling out Colombia, Mexico, Cuba, Iran and even Greenland as he doubled down on an interventionist stance that has alarmed governments at home and abroad.
Venezuelan authorities said on Sunday that the death toll from Saturday’s pre-dawn U.S. raid had risen to 80.
Defence Minister, Vladimir Padrino López, said those killed included a large part of Maduro’s security detail, alongside civilians caught in the assault.
Cuba said 32 of its citizens had died in the attack, some of them military or intelligence personnel deployed in Venezuela.
U.S. officials said no American service members were killed.
As the scale of the casualties became clearer, Venezuela’s newly installed acting president, Delcy Rodríguez, struck a more conciliatory tone. In a statement addressed directly to Mr Trump on Sunday night, she called for dialogue rather than further confrontation.
“Our people and our region deserve peace and dialogue, not war,” she said, while inviting Washington to work towards “shared development” within international law.
Her remarks marked a shift from earlier statements in which she described the U.S. operation as “a barbarity” aimed at seizing Venezuela’s energy, mineral and natural resources.
Trump showed little sign of restraint. Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, he dismissed questions about who was governing Venezuela and suggested the United States was now effectively in control.
“We’re dealing with the people that just got sworn in,” he said, before adding: “Don’t ask me who’s in charge, because I’ll give you an answer, and it’ll be very controversial. We’re in charge.”
He then turned his attention to Colombia, launching a personal attack on President Gustavo Petro and accusing the country of fuelling cocaine trafficking into the United States.
“Colombia is run by a sick man who likes making cocaine and selling it to the United States,” Mr Trump said.
Asked whether the United States could carry out an operation against Colombia, he replied: “It sounds good to me.”
The remarks deepen an already tense relationship between Washington and Bogotá, following recent U.S. maritime strikes in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific that Colombia says undermine its sovereignty.
Mexico was also singled out, with Trump saying drug cartels there were “very strong” and that narcotics were “pouring” across the U.S. border. “We’re gonna have to do something,” he said, without providing details.
Trump extended his warnings beyond Latin America to Iran, which has been facing internal unrest. He said the United States would respond forcefully if Iranian authorities resorted to violent repression.
“If they start killing people like they have in the past, I think they’re going to get hit very hard by the United States,” he said, raising fears of a renewed military confrontation with Tehran.
On Cuba, a close ally of the Maduro government, Trump suggested direct action might not be necessary because the country was nearing collapse.
“Cuba looks like it is ready to fall,” he said. “They got all their income from Venezuela, from the Venezuelan oil.”
Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, earlier described the Cuban government as “a huge problem” and said its leaders were “in a lot of trouble” over their role in supporting Maduro’s security apparatus.
Beyond the Americas, Trump again revived his long-standing ambition to take control of Greenland, the semiautonomous Danish territory.
“We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security,” he said, claiming the Arctic region was increasingly dominated by Russian and Chinese vessels.
Meanwhile, Maduro is being held at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center, where he and his wife, Cilia Flores, face federal drug trafficking and weapons charges.
Both are scheduled to make their initial court appearances on Monday.
The raid that led to his capture is already drawing political backlash in Washington.
Congressional Democrats say they were not adequately briefed on the operation or on the administration’s next steps, raising concerns about oversight as Trump signals a more aggressive posture across multiple regions.
0Related posts:
After Venezuela, Trump Turns to Greenland as Denmark Rejects US Security Claims
Cuban Leader, Fidel Castro Dies at 90
Maduro’s Capture: Power, Oil and the Cost of Cognitive Blind Spots
US, Russia, China, Britain at War Over Venezuela’s Guaido
President Maduro Gives U.S. Diplomats 72 Hours to Leave Venezuela
Trump Mourns Chief-Critic McCain, Banned From Burial