Latest from Venezuela: China demands Maduro’s release and Trump highlights military pressure.

At the same time, President Donald Trump intensified tensions in a very different direction. During remarks to reporters on Air Force One, he disparaged Colombia’s president, Gustavo Petro, describing him as “very sick” and asserting that Petro “likes making cocaine and selling it to the United States.”

When asked whether similar military action could be contemplated against Colombia, Trump responded, “It sounds good to me.”

Taken together, China’s demand and Trump’s rhetoric signaled not just discrete diplomatic moments, but a broader pattern of geopolitical strain. What emerged was a sense of instability — fractured alliances, heightened brinkmanship, and a growing worry among global leaders that a single miscalculation could ignite a far larger confrontation.

China’s Strategic Pushback

China’s position was forceful and public. In a statement released through its foreign ministry spokesperson, Beijing insisted that the United States has “disregarded President Maduro’s status as head of state” and accused Washington of trampling the sovereignty of Venezuela by detaining its president and prosecuting him in a domestic U.S. court. Continue reading…