Trump’s Threats Against Colombia Ignite Fears of Regional Escalation After Maduro Capture

Trump accuses Colombia’s Petro of drug trafficking and hints at U.S. military action days after the capture of Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro.

Newsroom (05/01/2026 Gaudium Press ) Two days after U.S. forces captured Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro in a dramatic nighttime raid, President Donald Trump turned his rhetoric toward neighboring Colombia, accusing its leader Gustavo Petro of narcotics trafficking and openly suggesting military action.

“Colombia is very sick, too,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday. “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.” When pressed to clarify if he meant military intervention, Trump replied, “sounds good to me.”

The remarks marked the second consecutive day the U.S. president targeted Petro. At a Saturday press conference following the operation in Caracas, Trump accused the Colombian leader of running “cocaine mills” and warned him to “watch his ass.” The comments capped weeks of escalating verbal hostilities between the two presidents, ignited by Petro’s condemnation of U.S. naval strikes on Venezuelan vessels allegedly involved in drug trafficking.

Tensions Mount Across the Region

Petro responded to Trump’s threats by dismissing them outright, calling the American operation in Venezuela “an aggression against the sovereignty of Latin America.” He later said he was “not worried at all.”

In Colombia, Trump’s comments have deepened political divisions and raised alarms among civic and religious leaders. Ignacio Madera, a theology professor at the Pontifical Xaverian University of Bogotá, said media outlets owned by major economic interests were portraying the U.S. raid as a “triumph of liberty.” Progressive groups, he added, have pushed back, criticizing what they see as renewed U.S. imperial behavior.

Diego Arias, a specialist in public security and armed conflicts, said the escalation was not entirely unexpected. “Many people thought Trump would try to connect Colombia to the Venezuelan situation,” Arias told Crux, though he noted that most Colombians remain preoccupied with Venezuela’s internal crisis and its uncertain transition.

Fallout and Uneasy Hope

Colombia currently hosts nearly three million Venezuelan refugees and migrants who fled the Maduro regime’s collapse. Recent U.S. strikes in Caracas and Maduro’s capture have stirred cautious optimism among them, Arias said. “They seem to believe real change will come—a reconstruction of the economy, new jobs, and stability.”

Still, Arias warned that such expectations could fade quickly if the post-Maduro transition falters. Meanwhile, social media in Colombia has erupted with memes mocking Petro, depicting him in orange prison garb or as Trump’s next target.

Voices of Caution

Within Colombia’s Catholic Church, concern is mounting over Trump’s stated willingness to act unilaterally. Bishop Juan Carlos Barreto of Soacha, who leads the national Caritas organization, called the U.S. president’s approach “authoritarian.”

“If this inadmissible action against Venezuela expands to Colombia—a country with a democratically elected president—it would be a much more serious aggression, one with terrible consequences,” Barreto said. He urged respect for sovereignty, as well as the human and civil rights of all citizens.

Madera, the university professor, was more blunt. “Given the passivity of most governments and the ambiguities of many others, anything is possible when it comes to Trump’s violent capitalist mind,” he said.

For now, Latin America appears to be holding its breath. With Maduro in U.S. custody, Venezuela’s future is uncertain—and Colombia, once a staunch U.S. ally in counter-narcotics initiatives, now finds itself uncomfortably within Washington’s rhetorical crosshairs.

• Raju Hasmukh with files from Crux Now

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