The President of the United States, Donald Trump, on Monday raised the tone of his attacks against his Venezuelan counterpart, Nicolás Maduro: “If he wants to play tough, this will be the last time he does it,” he warned in response to a question from a journalist who asked his opinion on Maduro’s possible reaction to the growing pressure from Washington on Caracas. The President of the United States announced last week a “total and complete blockade” of all oil tankers sanctioned by Washington that attempt to enter or leave Venezuela.
With this announcement, he dispelled the few doubts that might remain about Washington’s interest in the oil of this South American country and formalized a change in strategy that seems destined to see the Chavista regime fall: from a so-called war on drugs, which has already resulted in more than a hundred extrajudicial assassinations of crew members of so-called drug boats in the Caribbean and the Pacific, to the harassment of crude oil cargo ships; three, to date. “I think it would be smart for him to leave,” Trump added of the Chavista leader. “But then again, we’ll see.”
In addition to his attack on Maduro, Trump on Monday added fuel to the fire of his tense relations with Colombian President Gustavo Petro. During a press conference in his Mar-a-Lago residence, the Republican leader stressed that the left-wing president is “a very bad guy” and that “he is not a friend of the United States”, in reference to the cocaine trafficking that, according to him, the Colombian head of state authorizes.
“You better be careful. We love the Colombians, I love the Colombians, (…) but their new leader is a troublemaker. He better shut down these cocaine factories. We know where they are,” said Trump, who was talking about three in particular.
The attack on Petro came after hearing the mention he made at a government event late last week, when he said that if Trump was willing to reclaim territory he said was stolen from him in Venezuela, then he should be willing to return Texas and California to Mexico.
“And there, a Latin American president cannot say ‘Give it back, they stole it from us’. On the other hand, he (Trump) can say about Venezuelan oil: ‘Give it back, because they stole it from me’.”
Rubio’s message
The tone of Trump’s warning is very similar to that used by Secretary of State Marco Rubio last weekend during another press conference, during which he focused his criticism specifically on Petro. They asked him what the relationship between Colombia and the United States would be if a left-wing candidate won the presidency again in August 2026. The Florida Republican highlighted Colombia’s democratic tradition and said the winner’s ideological leaning did not matter, but rather his willingness to cooperate with the United States.
“It’s not about left or right, it’s about having a president in power who cooperates with us. Obviously the stance he (Petro) has taken against the United States has affected our relations. We are trying to limit that as much as possible,” he said.
The clash between Petro and Trump is the latest in a fractured relationship in which neither spares attacks and criticism. The most recent chapter dates back to early December, when Trump suggested the possibility of intervening in Colombia, arguing that any country that produces or trafficks drugs is “subject to attack.” This warning comes after months of pressure and threats against Maduro, whom he accuses of leading the Cartel of the Suns. Petro, who harshly criticized US bombing of ships in the Caribbean and Pacific, then responded: “Don’t threaten our sovereignty, because you will wake the jaguar.” »
Already at that time, Petro’s relationship with the United States government had experienced episodes of tension, such as when Trump accused him without evidence in October of being a “drug trafficking leader” and announced an increase in tariffs for Colombia, which was ultimately not implemented. Or when he revoked the Colombian president’s US visa in September, after he participated in a pro-Palestinian protest in New York during the week of the UN General Assembly. Also when Washington withdrew, a few days earlier, the certification of Colombia as a country cooperating in the fight against drugs.
The calls for consultations from the two ambassadors or the refusal of flights with deportees from the United States, almost a year ago, marked a deterioration in bilateral relations. With only eight months remaining, we have the feeling that the task of the next Colombian government will be to reestablish the ties that united the two countries, indestructible just a few years ago.
Regarding the latest phase of the pressure campaign against Chavismo, Trump said Monday, during an event in which he announced that the United States would build a new type of warship, named after him, that he planned to keep both the cargo, 1.9 million barrels, and the first of the tankers seized on September 10, a freighter named Skipper.
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