US President Donald Trump has issued threats of military intervention against Colombia and predicted the imminent fall of Cuba's government, following Washington's abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro at the weekend.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on January 4, Trump described Colombia as "very sick" and accused its leftist president, Gustavo Petro, of being "a sick man who likes making cocaine and selling it to the United States". When asked whether he would order US operations against Colombia, Trump replied: "Sounds good to me."

The remarks prompted a sharp rebuke from Petro, who called on Latin American countries to unite against what he characterised as threats to regional sovereignty. "The US is the first country in the world to bomb a South American capital in all of human history," Petro wrote on X, though he said revenge was not the answer. Petro had earlier condemned the Venezuela operation as "an aggression against the sovereignty of Venezuela and Latin America" and deployed security forces along Colombia's border to prepare for a potential refugee influx.

Foreign Minister Yolanda Villavicencio Mapy described Trump's remarks as "offensive, inadmissible, and deeply disrespectful" in a message posted on social media. She said the statements violated the Charter of the United Nations, particularly principles of sovereign equality, non-intervention and mutual respect, adding that "Colombia does not accept or tolerate conduct that disregards these fundamental norms".

Trump's comments came amid growing international condemnation of the unprecedented US military operation in Caracas on January 3, which resulted in Maduro's capture. Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Uruguay and Spain issued a joint statement expressing "profound concern" and rejecting what they called "military actions undertaken unilaterally in Venezuelan territory".

The operation, which Washington described as a law enforcement action to bring Maduro to trial on narcoterrorism charges, also resulted in the deaths of 32 Cuban personnel, according to Cuba's government. Trump himself said many Cubans had been killed in the raid, adding that the island nation appeared ready to fall without direct US intervention.

"Cuba is ready to fall," Trump told reporters. "Cuba now has no income. They got all of their income from Venezuela, from the Venezuelan oil. They're not getting any of it."

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a Cuban American known for his hardline stance on the communist-run island, said Cuban officials had been with Maduro before his capture and that Cubans had been responsible for the Venezuelan leader's security detail.

Cuba finds itself in a precarious position, facing a severe economic crisis at home exacerbated by US sanctions and the loss of subsidised Venezuelan oil, which is used to run a network of diesel generators sustaining an ailing electric grid subject to frequent blackouts. Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, Cuba's foreign minister, warned at an emergency regional meeting on January 4 that the situation "places us in a critical existential dilemma for our survival as nation states".

Trump also renewed warnings to Mexico, saying the country "has to get their act together" on drug trafficking. He described Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum as "a terrific woman" but said he has offered to send US troops to Mexico in their conversations, adding that "the cartels are very strong in Mexico" and that she is scared of facing them.

The threats underscore Trump's stated ambition to expand US influence in the Western Hemisphere through what he has termed the "Donroe Doctrine", a Trumpian twist on the 19th-century Monroe Doctrine claiming Latin America as Washington's sphere of influence.

Analysts said it remained unclear whether Trump would act on his threats or was attempting to coerce regional governments into co-operation.

The Trump administration imposed sanctions on Petro, his family and a government member in October over allegations of involvement in drug trafficking. Colombia is considered the epicentre of the world's cocaine trade, producing around 68% of the stimulant drug according to UN figures.