Colombia’s president says Venezuela will “implode” if the United States runs the country for years, as Trump has suggested.

Left-wing Colombian President Gustavo Petro told CBS News predicted Thursday that Venezuela would “implode” if the United States remains in charge of the South American nation for years, as President Trump recently suggested.

Petro’s remarks came in response to Mr. Trump’s remarks remark to the New York Times that he expected U.S. surveillance of Venezuela to last “much longer” than a year.

“If this happens, Venezuelan society will implode,” Petro said.

“And there is a crucial point that is not so much about Venezuela, but the idea that the United States has a right to the resources not only of Latin America, but also of the world,” Petro added.

The Trump administration has said the United States is considering taking control of the sale of Venezuelan oil and is pushing U.S. companies to invest billions in rebuilding Venezuela’s oil infrastructure. Mr. Trump is meeting with oil executives at the White House on Friday to discuss the issue.

Petro and Mr. Trump spoke for the first time On Wednesday, the US leader threatened military action against Colombia as part of his crackdown on the flow of narcotics into the country. The call appeared to ease growing tensions between the two leaders, and Mr. Trump invited Petro to the White House.

Petro criticized Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, whom Mr. Trump said he planned to meet next week. Asked if he would trust or support her as Venezuela’s leader, Petro replied: “I invited her once and she didn’t want to come. I was obviously surprised that Trump thought the same thing as me. »

After the United States captured former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, Mr. Trump said he did not believe Machado had enough support in his country to become a viable leader. Instead, Maduro’s vice president, Delcy Rodriguezwas sworn in as acting president.

But among the opposition, Machado led polls with a 93 percent margin in last year’s election in which Maduro claimed a decisive victory that the United States and Machado say he stole. While the Maduro regime blocked Machado from running, the candidate she supported is considered by the United States and many outside observers to have won 70% of the vote.