Hundreds of thousands of supporters gathered at the Miraflores Presidential Palace on Monday as Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro hosted a ceremony to inaugurate new community-based organisations. Despite escalating pressure from the United States over alleged drug trafficking networks linked to deaths in America, Maduro appeared undeterred. Wearing a red baseball cap similar in style to the MAGA hat, the 63-year-old broke into dance to an electronic remix of his own slogan — “Paz sí, guerra no” (“Peace, yes; war, no”) — prompting loud cheers from the crowd waving Venezuelan flags. Several supporters on stage joined him, while First Lady Cilia Flores and Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello stood nearby, with Cabello also wearing a cap embroidered with the phrase “doubt is betrayal.”
This was the second time in a week that Maduro publicly danced to the same tune. A video from National University Student Day celebrations in Caracas recently went viral, showing him grooving to the remix. He has also incorporated music into his rallies in other ways — last week he sang John Lennon’s “Imagine,” calling it an anthem for peace and encouraging young Venezuelans to study the lyrics.
The show of confidence comes at a moment of heightened US-Venezuela tensions. Washington has carried out repeated strikes on boats it accuses of drug smuggling in the Caribbean and the Pacific, operations that have killed at least 83 people since September. President Donald Trump has threatened to extend military action into Venezuelan territory and has officially labelled the Cartel de los Soles — a network the US claims links Maduro and senior military figures to narcotics trafficking — as a foreign terrorist organisation. Maduro rejects the allegations.
The Venezuelan National Assembly paused an extraordinary session on Monday that was expected to consider creating a commission to investigate the US strikes, following an appeal from the families of those killed. Meanwhile, Trump confirmed to reporters that he has recently spoken with Maduro but declined to reveal the content of their conversation.
