U.S. President Donald Trump's recent threats of a military operation against Colombia are a clear interference in Colombia's national sovereignty, aimed at influencing upcoming elections in the country and reasserting U.S. hegemony in the Western Hemisphere, according to a Colombian scholar.
After the U.S. raid on Venezuela and kidnap of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, Trump issued a stark warning to Colombian President Gustavo Petro, saying Petro "is not going to be doing it for very long."
When asked about the possibility of a U.S. military operation against Colombia, Trump replied, "It sounds good to me."
"Without any doubt, the threats and comments that Donald Trump has been making are a clear interference in our national sovereignty. It is totally absurd. What is being done is a propagation of a new politics that seeks to pressure and change the status quo in Latin America. He has also said he wants the return of U.S. hegemony in the Western Hemisphere. In that sense, what these threats seek is to interfere in the decisions of other countries, and in the case of Colombia, by threatening a legitimately elected president," said Andres Aristizabal, a Colombian international affairs expert.
Aristizabal warned that Trump's rhetoric is part of a broader strategy to sway key elections in the region later this year, specifically the presidential votes in Colombia and Brazil.
"This year, there will be two major elections -- the presidential elections in Colombia and in Brazil. What these types of comments and threats [from the U.S.] are looking for is to interfere in the sovereign decisions of these electoral processes, that is to say, these threats, interventions, and the pressure that they [the U.S] are making against Colombia are trying to modify the electoral results both in Colombia and later in Brazil to their benefits," said the scholar.
Trump's military threats clear interference in Colombia's sovereignty: scholar
Trump's military threats clear interference in Colombia's sovereignty: scholar
The Chinese naval hospital ship, Silk Road Ark, carried out a medical rescue drill in Atlantic waters during its Mission Harmony 2025, testing its capability to provide medical support during long-distance deployments.
The drill marked the vessel's first overseas medical-support exercise in unfamiliar waters in 2026, designed to simulate real-world emergency response scenarios far from home ports.
It brought together the hospital ship, a sea-based medical facility and shipborne helicopters in a coordinated rescue operation.
The exercise was conducted against a simulated backdrop of a commercial vessel in distress on the high seas with multiple casualties. After receiving the emergency signals, a shipborne helicopter immediately took off under an aerial evacuation plan, transferring simulated injured personnel to the triage area for rapid assessment and emergency treatment.
As part of the exercise, medical teams practiced a time-sensitive rescue approach, combining casualty transfer, triage and treatment to ensure prompt and accurate assessment of injuries under operational conditions.
"We followed the principle of providing treatment while transferring and carrying out triage and rescuing, ensuring that casualties are correctly assessed at the earliest time possible. If a patient is in a critical condition, we must carry out necessary emergency treatment in the triage area. Once vital signs are relatively stable, the patient is then transferred to an appropriate treatment unit," said Jiang Yingbo, a member of the Mission Harmony 2025.
Severely injured patients were transferred to intensive care units for further observation and treatment after surgery. A medical expert group then conducted timely consultations to formulate targeted treatment plans.
Under complex sea conditions in distant waters, the drill covered multiple training modules including maritime evacuation, triage, emergency treatment and surgery, strengthening the military medical ship's integrated emergency medical response, and enhancing the navy's far-sea medical support capability, according to the authorities.
Chinese navy hospital ship drills medical rescue in Atlantic waters
