Trump threatens military action against Colombia, says Cuba 'ready to fall'

Jan. 5 (UPI) -- President Donald Trump threatened military action against Colombia's government and said Cuba was on the precipice of falling on Sunday, a day after arresting Venezuela's president, Nicolas Maduro.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump called Colombia, a U.S. ally, "very sick" and run by "a sick man who likes making cocaine and selling it to the United States."

Relations between Washington and Bogota have plummeted during the second Trump administration, beginning in January when both sides threatened one another with tit-for-tat tariffs after Colombian President Gustavo Petro barred the United States from sending military planes carrying migrants from landing in the country.

Trump has steadily increased the rhetoric targeting the socialist leader, going so far as to lob unfounded allegations of drug crimes at Petro, who has repeatedly denied them while pursuing domestic anti-narcotics efforts.

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Petro has also accused Trump of murder for killing at least one Colombian fisherman in September in a military strike on boats in international waters the United States alleges were involved in drug trafficking.

On the plane Sunday, Trump reiterated the unfounded drug allegations against Petro and said, "He's not going to be doing it for very long."

When asked whether there would be a U.S. military operation involving Colombia, Trump said, "Sounds good to me. You know why? Because they kill a lot of people."

Trump also said that Cuba was being financially supported by Venezuela, and now with Maduro detained "they won't have that money coming."

"Cuba is ready to fall. Cuba looks ready to fall. I don't know if they're going to hold out," he said. "And you have a lot of great Cubans that are going to be very happy about this."

Following the United States' detention of Maduro in a military operation on Saturday, Petro has been among the most vocal critics saying the operation violated international law.

In a statement on Sunday, Petro accused Trump of "kidnapping" Maduro and his wife, calling the military operation one without legal basis.

"I know perfectly well that what Donald Trump has done is abhorrent," he said.

"They have destroyed the rule of law at a global level. They have bloodily desecrated the sacred sovereignty of all of Latin America and the Caribbean."

Earlier Sunday, Petro demanded that Trump stop slandering him, saying the judiciary of Colombia is independent and is largely run by his opposition and that his name does not appear in any judicial files connected to alleged drug crimes.

"This is not how one threatens a Latin American president who emerged from armed struggle and later from the people of Colombia's struggle for peace," he said.