Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro issued a stark warning to U.S. President Donald Trump, claiming that efforts to remove him from power could spark a “full-scale continental war.”

“Mr. President Donald Trump, you must be careful because Marco Rubio wants to stain your hands with blood—South American, Caribbean, Venezuelan blood,” Maduro declared in a televised speech. “They want to drag you into a bloodbath, to tarnish the Trump name forever with a massacre against the Venezuelan people, with a terrible war across South America and the Caribbean. This would be a full-scale continental war.”

Maduro’s comments come amid growing tensions between Washington and Caracas. The Trump administration has accused the Venezuelan leader of authoritarianism, corruption, and presiding over one of the worst humanitarian crises in the region. For years, the U.S. has supported opposition movements, while Maduro has relied on backing from allies such as Russia, China, and Iran.

The Venezuelan president’s warning underscores the fragile balance in the region, where international pressure and domestic unrest continue to fuel fears of wider instability.