Venezuela: Maduro warns White House will be 'stained with blood' if Trump invades

Venezuela’s embattled leader, Nicolás Maduro, has warned Donald Trump he will leave the White House “stained with blood” if he insists on pursuing what he called a “dirty” imperialist conspiracy to overthrow him.

“Stop. Stop, Trump! Hold it right there! You are making mistakes that will leave your hands covered in blood and you will leave the presidency stained with blood,” Maduro warned during a combative interview with the Spanish journalist Jordi Évole. “Why would you want a repeat of Vietnam?”

He also rejected European calls for elections, saying: “We don’t accept ultimatums from anyone. I refuse to call for elections now – there will be elections in 2024. We don’t care what Europe says.”

He added: “You can’t base international politics on ultimatums. That’s the stuff of the empire, of colonial times.”

Maduro also sent a message to his opposition challenger Guaidó, who declared himself Venezuela’s legitimate interim president on 23 January, sparking what many believe could be a final showdown between the two sides.

“Think carefully about what you are doing,” he said, urging Guaidó “to abandon his coup-mongering strategy”.