The US president also suggested that Colombia and Mexico could face military action if they do not reduce the flow of illicit drugs to his country.
United States President Donald Trump said on Sunday (Jan 4) that the US might launch a second military strike on Venezuela following the capture of President Nicolas Maduro if remaining members of the administration do not cooperate with his efforts to get the country “fixed”.
Trump’s comments to reporters aboard Air Force One raised the possibility of further US military interventions in Latin America and suggested that Colombia and Mexico could also face military action if they do not reduce the flow of illicit drugs to the US.
“Operation Colombia sounds good to me,” Trump said. He also said that Cuba, a close ally of Venezuela, “looks like it’s ready to fall” on its own without US military action.
Maduro is in a New York detention centre awaiting a Monday court appearance on drug charges.
His capture by the US has sparked deep uncertainty about what is next for the oil-rich South American nation.
Trump said his administration will work with remaining members of the Maduro regime to clamp down on drug trafficking and overhaul its oil industry, rather than push for immediate elections to install a new government.
Top officials in Maduro’s government are still in charge and have called the detentions of Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, a kidnapping.
“Here there is only one president, whose name is Nicolas Maduro Moros. Let no one fall for the enemy’s provocations,” Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said in an audio recording released by the ruling PSUV socialist party.
Images of the 63-year-old Maduro blindfolded and handcuffed stunned Venezuelans. The operation was Washington’s most controversial intervention in Latin America since the invasion of Panama 37 years ago.
Defense Minister General Vladimir Padrino said on state television that the US attack killed soldiers, civilians and a “large part” of Maduro’s security detail “in cold blood”.
Venezuela’s armed forces have been activated to guarantee sovereignty, he said.
The Cuban government said 32 of its citizens were killed during the raid.
Havana said there would be two days of mourning on Jan 5 and Jan 6 and that funeral arrangements would be announced.
The Cuban government statement gave few details, but said all the dead were members of the Cuban armed forces and intelligence agencies.
Cuba has provided some security for Maduro since he came to power. It was not clear how many Cubans were guarding the Venezuelan president when they died and how many may have perished elsewhere.
Vice President Delcy Rodriguez, who also serves as oil minister, has taken over as interim leader with the blessing of Venezuela’s top court and has said Maduro remains president.
Rodriguez has long been considered the most pragmatic member of Maduro’s inner circle. But she has publicly contradicted Trump’s claim that she is willing to work with the US.
Trump said Rodriguez may pay a bigger price than Maduro “if she doesn’t do what’s right”, according to an interview with The Atlantic magazine on Sunday.
The Venezuelan communications ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on that remark.
