After Venezuela, who's next?

After Venezuela, who’s next?
Trump's threats against Cuba, Mexico, Colombia and Greenland must be taken seriously

By Heather Digby Parton
Columnist
Published January 6, 2026 9:00AM (EST)


(Salon) None of this should have come as a surprise. The series of boat strikes and murders on the high seas that have taken place in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific since September were a pretty clear sign that Donald Trump was planning to seize control of Venezuela, a sovereign nation, and depose its strongman president Nicolás Maduro. But after the success of the U.S. military’s Operation Absolute Resolve, which was launched in the wee hours of Saturday morning without congressional — legal — authorization and saw the arrest of Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, and claims by Trump that the U.S. would run the country, the American president swiftly turned his attentions elsewhere.

Trump, along with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, made it clear that Cuba, which has a very close bond with Venezuela, is next on the agenda. The country, Trump said, is “ready to fall” and might not require U.S. intervention. But it’s certainly possible an assisted splendid little regime change could happen there as well.

Mexico is also a target. On Saturday, Trump said, “Something’s going to have to be done with Mexico.” Administration officials told Zeteo that Trump is serious about sending in special forces. He followed up his threats in comments to reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday by claiming the country is run by drug cartels and saying Mexico should “get their act together.” Claudia Sheinbaum, the country’s president, was unfazed. “This is just President Trump’s manner of speaking,” she said at a news conference.

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The first Trump administration ran war games on regime change in Venezuela that found a distinct possibility that the country could easily fall into chaos, and it’s not hard to imagine a dozen scenarios that would bring that about. Since the administration appears to have put such experts as Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller in charge, the odds are quite high that this could escalate quickly. ..................(more)

https://www.salon.com/2026/01/06/after-venezuela-whos-next/