After Maduro, Trump Threatens Colombia's President

Colombian President Gustavo Petro received a warning from his US counterpart Donald Trump, even as Nicolas Maduro was brought to a prison in New York almost a day after Washington launched military Operation Absolute Resolve in Venezuela.

Trump told reporters, "He's making cocaine and they're sending it into the United States." Without mentioning one of his closest allies Maduro, Petro described Washington's actions as an "assault on the sovereignty" of Latin America and said they would result in a humanitarian crisis.

Petro has been a vocal critic of military deployments ordered by Trump in the Caribbean to fight alleged drug trafficking vessels. As part of his anti-drug strategy, Trump recently said he would not rule out striking drug-production laboratories in Colombia, which Petro had condemned as a threat of invasion.

Hours after Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores were extracted from Caracas, Trump said the US will would temporarily "run" the country. "We're going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition," he said, adding that the US is ready to stage a second and much larger attack, if required.

Speaking on the US's wider plans in Latin America, Trump said no questions will be raised again on American dominance in the Western Hemisphere. "We want to surround ourselves with good neighbors. We want to surround ourselves with stability. We want to surround ourselves with energy. We have tremendous energy in that country. It's very important that we protect it. We need that for ourselves," he said.

Trump voiced confidence in Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez and her willingness to do what is needed to make the country "great again", while raising questions on the support at home for opposition leader Maria Corina Machado. "I think it would be very tough for her (Machado) to be the leader. She doesn't have the support within or the respect within the country. She's a very nice woman, but she doesn't have the respect," he added.

On future plans for Venezuela, Trump said the US will send its oil companies to the country, spend billions of dollars to fix the "badly broken oil infrastructure" and make money for the country. "We're going to have our very large United States oil companies, the biggest anywhere in the world, go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken infrastructure, the oil infrastructure, and start making money for the country. "The embargo on all Venezuelan oil remains in full effect. The American armada remains poised in position, and the United States retains all military options until United States demands have been fully met and fully satisfied," he told reporters.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio hinted that Cuba could be the next target of the Trump administration. "If I lived in Havana and I was in the government, I'd be concerned at least a little bit," said Rubio, who has had a long preoccupation with both Venezuela and Cuba.

The US has had a long history of military interventions in Latin America, including its support for the unsuccessful 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion led by Cuban exiles aimed at toppling Fidel Castro.

Trump also said that something will have to be "done with Mexico", adding that President Claudia Sheinbaum is a good woman, but she is not running the country. "We're very friendly with her (Sheinbaum), she's a good woman. But the cartels are running Mexico. She's not running Mexico," Trump said. He said he's asked Sheinbaum numerous times, "Would you like us to take out the cartels?" but she has said no.