Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro opened a rally on Wednesday with a bizarre mix of cheer and alarm, dancing and singing along to a version of Bobby McFerrin’s “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” even as he told his supporters the country must brace for a potential clash with the United States.
The light moment, during which Maduro hummed out a misremembered version of the accapella tune, quickly turned serious as Maduro, gripping the sword of South American patriot figure Simon BolIvar, pivoted into a warning that Venezuela must stand ready as tensions with Washington rise.
The message beneath the music was blunt. “In these times, things have to be different, but we must always stand like warriors, women and men,” he said. Maduro urged the crowd to stay vigilant “with one eye wide open — and the other one too … ready to smash the teeth of the North American empire if necessary, from Bolivar’s homeland.”
The performance came just hours after President Donald Trump announced that the US had seized an oil tanker off Venezuela’s coast, escalating an already volatile standoff. Attorney General Pam Bondi said the vessel was targeted for transporting sanctioned oil tied to Venezuela and Iran.
Venezuela’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement condemning the seizure as “a brazen robbery and an act of international piracy,” accusing Washington of attempting to “take Venezuelan oil without paying anything in return.” The government argued the move fits into what it claims is a longstanding US strategy to undermine control of the nation’s natural resources, comparing it to past disputes involving Citgo Petroleum.
Officials said the latest action “has always been about our natural resources, our oil, our energy,” insisting that US justification involving migration, democracy, or human rights was a pretext. They also accused Washington of using the tanker incident to overshadow political negotiations in Oslo involving Maduro’s opponents.
Maduro told supporters that Venezuela will bring its complaint to international bodies and maintain control over its energy assets. “Venezuela will not allow any foreign power to attempt to seize from the Venezuelan people what belongs to them by historical and constitutional right,” the statement said.
The tanker seizure comes as stepped-up US maritime operations target vessels believed to be tied to drug-trafficking networks.
Reuters has reported more than 80 deaths linked to those actions since September.
