The message seemed designed to reach Washington as one administration prepares to hand the baton to the next: If the United States keeps messing with Venezuela, then Caracas will retaliate by “liberating” the US territory of Puerto Rico,

Puerto Rico’s new Republican governor is drawing attention to Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro’s military threats against the U.S. island in the wake of President-elect Trump’s calls for U.S. territorial expansion.

The incoming Trump administration wants regime change in Venezuela, where dictator Nicolás Maduro stole his election, jailed a rival and this month even threatened to invade the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico.