US President Donald Trump said late on Sunday that Cuba was “ready to fall” after US forces captured Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro days earlier.
Trump added that “a lot of Cubans were killed” during the US operation to seize the Venezuelan leader.
“Cuba is ready to fall,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One, adding that it would be hard for Havana to “hold out” without receiving heavily subsidised Venezuelan oil.
“I don’t think we need any action. It looks like it’s going down,” he added.
“Cuba now has no income. They got all of their income from Venezuela, from the Venezuelan oil,” Trump said.
“They’re not getting any of it. Cuba literally is ready to fall. And you have a lot of great Cuban Americans that are going to be very happy about this.”
Cuban casualties during US operation
Speaking in more detail of casualties during the US operation, Trump that there was “a lot of death on the other side, unfortunately.”
Meanwhile, Havana authorities said that 32 Cubans were killed during the US attack on Caracas.
Trump continued with threats to another neighbour of Maduro: “Venezuela is very sick. 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. Let me tell you.”
When asked if he meant an operation by the US on Colombia, Trump said: “Sounds good to me.”
Maduro’s capture and US control of Venezuela
Trump’s comments come a day after US forces captured and detained Maduro and his wife in a surprise attack on Caracas. The Venezuelan leader and his wife, Cilia Flores, are due to appear in court on drug-related charges in New York later on Monday.
Trump also insisted the US was ‘in charge’ of Venezuela, even though the country’s Supreme Court has appointed the country’s Vice President Delcy Rodriguez as interim leader.
He also reiterated a threat to send the US military back to Venezuela if it “doesn’t behave.”
Trump has made no secret of his ambitions to expand US presence in the Western hemisphere and revive the 19th century Monroe Doctrine that states Latin America falls under the US sphere of influence. Trump has called his 21st century version the “Don-roe Doctrine”.
The US president has also previously threatened both Colombia and Cuba. Over the weekend he said that Petro has to “watch his ass” and that the political situation in Cuba was “something we’ll end up talking about because Cuba is a failing nation.”
