President Donald Trump has warned that Cuba is “ready to fall” in the wake of Venezuelan socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro’s capture.
Trump is arguing that Havana can no longer depend on Caracas for security support or oil as the regime’s leadership collapses.
The president said Cuba’s stability is now directly tied to Maduro’s ouster and the unraveling of Venezuela’s ability to bankroll allies across the region.
Asked whether the United States was considering action in Cuba, Trump replied:
“I think it’s just going to fall.
“I don’t think we need any action.
“Looks like it’s going down.
“It’s going down for the count.”
WATCH:
The president made the remarks to reporters aboard Air Force One following Saturday’s operation that resulted in the capture of Maduro and his wife on charges linked to a narco-terrorism conspiracy.
The mission has reverberated through left-wing governments in Latin America, with Cuban officials calling for rallies in solidarity with Venezuela and accusing the United States of violating sovereignty.
U.S. officials said Cuban security services played a central role in keeping Maduro in power.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Cuban operatives effectively controlled Venezuela’s internal security system, including personally guarding Maduro and monitoring loyalty inside his regime.
“It was Cubans that guarded Maduro,” Rubio said.
“He was not guarded by Venezuelan bodyguards.
“He had Cuban bodyguards.”
Cuba acknowledged Sunday that 32 Cuban military and police personnel were killed during the American operation, the first official casualty figure released by Havana.
State media said the forces had been deployed at Caracas’s request and announced two days of national mourning.
Trump confirmed Cuban casualties while returning to Washington.
“A lot of Cubans were killed yesterday,” he said.
“There was a lot of death on the other side.
“No death on our side,” Trump noted.
The president also criticized Colombia’s leadership, accusing it of enabling narcotics trafficking into the United States.
“Colombia is very sick, run by a sick man who likes making cocaine and selling it to the United States,” Trump said, adding that the country, “is not going to be doing it for a very long time.”
Trump suggested the U.S. is prepared to continue acting against trafficking networks operating by land and sea, pointing to recent interdictions.
He also renewed focus on Greenland, arguing the Arctic territory has strategic value amid Russian and Chinese activity in the region.
“We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security,” Trump said.
“Greenland is covered with Russian and Chinese ships all over the place.”
Trump has framed the Maduro operation as part of a broader strategy to reassert U.S. power in the Western Hemisphere, invoking the Monroe Doctrine and warning that hostile regimes can no longer rely on one another for survival.
Maduro is scheduled to be arraigned in federal court in New York on Monday.
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