United States President Donald Trump on Sunday (Jan 4) threatened military action against Colombia’s government, telling reporters that such an operation “sounds good to me”.
“Colombia is very sick, too, run by a sick man, who likes making cocaine and selling it to the United States, and he’s not going to be doing it very long,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One, in an apparent reference to Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro.
Asked directly whether the US would pursue a military operation against the country, Trump answered, “It sounds good to me”.
The comments came after the US captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in an audacious raid and whisked him to New York to face drug-trafficking charges.
Trump has said that the US would take control of Venezuela and US companies would be sent to fix its badly dilapidated oil infrastructure.
Venezuela’s interim government – led by acting president Delcy Rodriguez – on Sunday declared that the country’s government would stay unified behind Maduro.
Rodriguez, who took over as interim leader with the blessing of Venezuela’s top court, has also said that Maduro remains president and publicly contradicted Trump’s claim that she is willing to work with the United States.
Trump told The Atlantic in a telephone interview that Rodriguez was going to “pay a very big price, probably bigger than Maduro” if she did not do “what’s right”.
It is unclear how Trump plans to oversee Venezuela, and he runs the risk of alienating some supporters who oppose foreign interventions.
While Maduro’s capture came as a surprise, sources familiar with the matter said planning for the operation had been in the works for months and included detailed rehearsals.
Elite US troops, including the Army’s Delta Force, created an exact replica of Maduro’s safe house and practised how they would enter the strongly fortified residence.
The CIA had a small team on the ground starting in August who were able to provide insight into Maduro’s pattern of life that made grabbing him seamless, according to one source familiar with the matter.
Two other sources told Reuters the intelligence agency also had an asset close to Maduro who would monitor his movements and was poised to pinpoint his exact location as the operation unfolded.
The final go-ahead for the operation was given by Trump at 10.46pm EST on Friday.