Donald Trump has hinted at what could potentially be a worrying ‘next move’ for one of the US’ closest neighbours, just hours after revealing he had captured and detained Venezuela’s president Nicolás Maduro.
The capital city of Venezuela, Caracas, was struck in the early hours of Saturday by the US military, with Trump reporting on Truth Social a short while later that President Maduro had been captured and taken out of the country, along with his wife, Cilia Flores.
In the absence of leadership, Trump also revealed that the United States would be assuming control over the Latin American nation until a stable government could be established.
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He told a press conference: “We are going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition,” he said in a press conference.
Yet it appears it isn’t just Venezuela that the president has his eyes set on, as in an interview following the military action, he hinted at possible action in Mexico, too.
During a Saturday appearance on Fox & Friends on the Fox News network, presenter Griff Jenkins quizzed whether the operation was a ‘message’ to Mexico's leader, Claudia Sheinbaum.
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Trump then responded: "Well, it wasn't meant to be, and we're very friendly with her and she's a good woman but the cartels are running Mexico. She's not running Mexico.
"We could be politically correct and be nice and say, 'Oh, yes, she is.' No no. She's very frightened of the cartels. They're running Mexico. And I've asked her number times, 'Would you like us to take out the cartels?'"
Trump then began to talk about drugs being trafficked into the US via its southern neighbour before adding: "Something is gonna have to be done with Mexico."
This narrative is very similar to the one Trump used against Maduro before taking action against Venezuela, with the president taking aim at Maduro for months over claims that his regime was allowing drugs from Venezuela to flood the US.
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In reality, the vast majority of drugs have come in via the Mexican border, with the US Government Accountability Office citing this as the main source of fentanyl behind increasing drug overdose deaths.
The office said: "Much of this narcotic is being trafficked into the United States from Mexico, according to federal law enforcement.
"As part of efforts to combat trafficking, the Department of Homeland Security is targeting not just fentanyl itself, but also the chemicals and equipment used to make it that are largely coming from China.”
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Yet while tackling the US drug problem is a huge issue, so too is preserving international sovereignty and respecting international law.
This means that drastic action, such as the one taken by Trump today to oust Maduro, could be seen as illegal and particularly troubling among many countries around the globe.
Topics: Donald Trump, Politics, Mexico
Phoebe Tonks