FRESH from a surprise US military operation that led to the ouster of Venezuela’s president Nicolás Maduro, Donald Trump has reignited his long-standing campaign for the United States to take over Greenland, while his secretary of state warned that Cuba’s communist government is “in a lot of trouble”.
Reuters reported on Monday that the comments from Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio signal a renewed determination by the administration to assert American dominance across the Western Hemisphere, unsettling allies and rivals alike and prompting a growing question abroad: who might be next?
“We do need Greenland, absolutely,” Trump said in an interview with The Atlantic, describing the strategically located Arctic island as “surrounded by Russian and Chinese ships”.
Asked whether the US military action in Venezuela should concern Greenland, Trump replied: “They are going to have to view it themselves. I really don’t know.” The White House did not respond to requests for comment.
Trump’s National Security Strategy, published last month, explicitly calls for restoring “American preeminence in the Western Hemisphere” as a central objective of his second term.
He has repeatedly invoked the 19th-century Monroe Doctrine, which opposes European colonial influence in the Americas, and the Roosevelt Corollary, historically used to justify US intervention in the region.
Trump has even joked that some now refer to the doctrine as the “Don-roe Doctrine”.
The overnight raid by US forces in Caracas, coupled with Trump’s renewed focus on Greenland, has caused alarm in Denmark, which governs the vast, mineral-rich territory.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen responded sharply, saying Trump had “no right to annex” Greenland and stressing that Denmark already grants the US extensive access through existing NATO security agreements.
“I would therefore strongly urge the U.S. to stop threatening a historically close ally and another country and people who have made it very clear that they are not for sale,” Frederiksen said.
Denmark also joined a European Union statement emphasising that “the right of the Venezuelan people to determine their future must be respected”, amid Trump’s pledge to “run” Venezuela and his pressure on the acting president, Delcy Rodriguez, to align with Washington.
Tensions rose further after a social media post by Katie Miller, a former Trump administration official turned podcaster, showed an illustrated map of Greenland in US flag colours with the caption: “SOON.” Miller is married to Trump’s deputy chief of staff, Stephen Miller.
“And yes, we expect full respect for the territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark,” Denmark’s ambassador to Washington, Jesper Møller Sørensen, wrote in response.
Trump had repeatedly raised the idea of US control over Greenland during his transition back to the White House and in his first months in office, at times refusing to rule out the use of military force.
While the issue had faded from headlines, it resurfaced recently when Trump said he would appoint Louisiana’s Republican governor, Jeff Landry, as his special envoy to Greenland.
Landry said he would help Trump “make Greenland a part of the U.S.”
Warnings to Cuba
At the same time, anxiety has grown in Cuba, a close ally and trading partner of Venezuela, after Rubio delivered a blunt warning to Havana. Appearing on NBC’s Meet the Press, Rubio said Cuban officials had been present with Maduro shortly before his capture.
“It was Cubans that guarded Maduro,” Rubio said. “He was not guarded by Venezuelan bodyguards. He had Cuban bodyguards.”
He added that Cuban personnel oversaw internal intelligence operations in Venezuela, including “who spies on who inside to make sure there are no traitors”.
Trump, speaking to reporters on Saturday, drew parallels between the two countries. “I think Cuba is going to be something we’ll end up talking about, because Cuba is a failing nation right now, a very badly failing nation, and we want to help the people,” he said.
Cuban authorities called a rally in support of Venezuela’s former government and condemned the US operation, warning in a statement:
“All the nations of the region must remain alert, because the threat hangs over all of us.”
Rubio, a former Florida senator and the son of Cuban immigrants, reiterated his long-held view that Cuba is an oppressive dictatorship.
“This is the Western Hemisphere. This is where we live — and we’re not going to allow the Western Hemisphere to be a base of operation for adversaries, competitors, and rivals of the United States,” he said.
Ordinary Cubans said they were watching events in Venezuela with apprehension. Bárbara Rodríguez, a 55-year-old biochemical laboratory worker, said she feared what she described as an “aggression against a sovereign state”.
“It can happen in any country, it can happen right here. We have always been in the crosshairs,” Rodríguez said. - January 5, 2025
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