President Donald Trump's latest moves in South America show that he's after "regime change," according to one analyst.
On Sunday, the Trump administration struck a seventh boat with alleged ties to drug smuggling. The strike was conducted off the coast of Colombia and killed three people, according to reports. After the strike, Trump escalated his feud with Colombian President Gustavo Petro by posting a lengthy message on Truth Social announcing that he was cutting off foreign aid to the country.
"The purpose of this drug production is the sale of massive amounts of product into the United States, causing death, destruction, and havoc," Trump posted. "Petro, a low rated and very unpopular leader, with a fresh mouth toward America, better close up these killing fields immediately, or the United States will close them up for him, and it won’t be done nicely."
Sergio Guzmán, who heads Colombia Risk Analysis, a consultancy that studies U.S.-Colombia policy, told the Wall Street Journal that Trump's actions appear to have a higher purpose.
“The U.S. is pushing the boundary of international law,” Guzmán told the outlet. “Essentially, the U.S. has now cut all of its foreign assistance to Colombia and it is also looking for regime change in Venezuela—two things that eight months ago or 10 months ago were not fathomable.”