President Donald Trump warned brutal world leaders such as Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel during a Saturday press conference that what happened to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro could happen to them.
Trump announced in a post on Truth Social that U.S. military forces protected a law enforcement operation to arrest Maduro and his wife in Caracas early Saturday morning. Trump and Secretarty of State Marco Rubio later said at the press conference that current members of the Cuban regime could meet the same fate as Maduro.
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“Cuba is an interesting case, Cuba is not doing well right now. That system has not been a very good one for Cuba,” Trump said. “The people have suffered for many, many years and I think that Cuba is going to be something we’ll end up talking about because Cuba is a failing nation right now, very badly failing nation and we want to help the people.”
“Suffice to say that Cuba is a disaster. It’s run by incompetent, senile men and in some cases, not senile, but incompetent nonetheless, it has no economy and total collapse,” Rubio added. “By the way, they were — all of the guards that helped protect Maduro, this is well known — their whole spy agency was full of Cubans. It’s amazing this poor island took over Venezuela in some cases. And one of the biggest problems that Venezuela has: they have to declare independence from Cuba. If I lived in Havana, in the government, I would be concerned.”
Trump also warned additional military action could be taken if remnants of the Maduro regime did not satisfy American demands.
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“I will never allow terrorists and criminals to operate with impunity against the United States,” Trump said. “This extremely successful operation should serve as warning to anyone who would threaten American sovereignty or endanger American lives. Very importantly, the embargo on all Venezuelan oil remains in full effect.”
“The American armada remains poised and positioned and the United States retains all military options until the United States demands have been fully met and fully satisfied,” Trump continued. “All political and military figures in Venezuela should understand what happened to Maduro can happen to them and it will happen to them if they aren’t just, fair, even to their people.”
Attorney General Pam Bondi announced on X that Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, would be taken to New York to be arraigned on charges stemming from a March 2020 indictment on drug trafficking and firearms charges. Congressional Democrats decried the operation as an illegal use of military force, with some prominent figures taking to BlueSky to demand Trump’s impeachment.
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