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The leaders of Greenland, Mexico and Colombia assert the sovereignty of their respective nations and push back against pressure from Washington after this one. deleted Nicolas Maduro of power in Venezuela this weekend.
The move stunned leaders around the world, including those whose countries have also faced threats of U.S. intervention.
“We categorically reject any intervention in the internal affairs of other countries,” Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Monday, reiterating her country’s opposition to Washington’s decision and to any form of intervention in Mexico.
Sheinbaum said Mexico was a sovereign country and was cooperating with the United States on drug trafficking and security, after U.S. President Donald Trump hinted at military action in Mexico to combat drug cartels. Trump used a similar justification before impeaching Maduro, who faces drug trafficking charges in New York.
“It is necessary to reaffirm that in Mexico it is the people who govern and that we are a free and sovereign country – cooperation, yes; subordination and intervention, no,” she said.
Observers say Mexico has been doing almost everything Washington has asked since Trump began imposing tariffs. Sheinbaum’s administration has become more aggressive toward cartels than its predecessor. There have been more arrests, drug seizures and extraditions. Mexico has agreed to take in more deportees from other countries.
“Military intervention in Mexico would suspend this cooperation,” said Carlos Pérez Ricart, a policy analyst at the Mexican Center for Economic Research and Education (CIDE). This would pose a great risk for the United States because it would be left without a partner to work with, he added.
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Yet he and other analysts do not rule out the prospect of US military intervention, although the possibility is very slim.
“The United States does not operate according to rational logic,” Pérez Ricart said. “Right now, all possibilities are open, including those unimaginable a year ago.”
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was “deeply concerned that the rules of international law have not been respected” by the United States.
Guterres said in a statement this “serious” action could set a precedent for future relations between the nations.
Elsewhere in the Americas, Colombian President Gustavo Petro said he strongly opposed any possible US strike against drug traffickers in his country.
Petro told the X that his government had made cocaine seizures in record quantities and warned that the Trump administration would kill children if it carried out strikes against drug trafficking groups and rebels in Colombia.
Petro, who was member of a left-wing guerrilla group in his youth, declared that he would “take up arms again” if the United States attacked Colombia.
He also said he recently fired Colombian intelligence agents who were providing the U.S. administration with “false information” about his government.
Petro also rejected accusations made by Trump that he sends cocaine to the United States
‘We cannot compare Greenland to Venezuela.
Meanwhile, Greenland’s prime minister said his country was seeking to strengthen ties with the United States and its citizens should not fear an imminent U.S. takeover following Trump’s renewed interest in the autonomous Danish territory. touted its strategic importance in Washington.
“We are not in a situation where we think that a takeover of the country could happen overnight,” Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen told a news conference in the capital Nuuk.
“We cannot compare Greenland to Venezuela. We are a democratic country.”
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One early Monday, Trump said he would return to the subject in a few weeks.
Greenland’s strategic location between Europe and North America makes it an essential site for the American ballistic missile defense system. The island’s significant mineral resources also fit with Washington’s ambition to reduce its dependence on Chinese exports.
The island – the world’s largest, with a population of 57,000 – is not an independent member of NATO, but is covered by Denmark’s membership of the Western military alliance.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen also rejected Trump’s comments.
“I have made the position of the Kingdom of Denmark very clear and Greenland has repeatedly stated that it does not want to be part of the United States,” she told public broadcaster DR.
Other European powers also rallied to Greenland on Monday.
“Greenland and the Kingdom of Denmark must determine the future of Greenland and no one else,” British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Monday.
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul suggested NATO could discuss strengthening protection of Greenland, while the European Union reiterated its commitment to the principle of national sovereignty.
