Maduro dances to his own peace track while US ramps up Caribbean show of force

Venezuelan President Nicol s Maduro danced to a remix of his own peace slogans at a candidate rally in Caracas the latest act of defiance after his performance of John Lennon s Imagine while U S warships patrol near its coast Video from the National University Aspirant Day celebration shows Maduro swaying to the beat seemingly mimicking President Donald Trump s trademark dance moves with a noticeably looser sway The electronic track featured Maduro s own phrases recycled from speeches promoting peace and rejecting war as tensions with the U S continue rising Reuters identified the remix as Peace yes War no At one point the Venezuelan leader punctuated the beat with finger pistols a playful pew pew gesture captured on camera US NAVY DESTROYER ARRIVES IN TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO AS TRUMP TURNS SCREWS ON VENEZUELAThe clip surfaced about a week after Maduro sang Imagine at a rally urging peace while the Trump administration reinforced its military presence near Venezuela to stem drug trafficking Maduro invoked Lennon as he spoke about peace calling the former member of The Beatles a poet and musician who left a gift to humanity He urged young people to read the lyrics describing the song as an anthem for every generation TRUMP ANNOUNCES VENEZUELA WILL TAKE CRIMINAL ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS BACKIn the video Maduro paused mid-speech to recall Lennon s song warbling a scarce words before reflecting on its meaning What a beautiful song The lyrics young people look up the lyrics he reported according to a translation It s an inspiration for all time It s an anthem for all eras and generations that John Lennon left as a gift to humanity Long live the eternal memory of that great poet and musician John Lennon As Maduro preaches peace the U S has significantly increased its military presence across the Caribbean deploying bombers warships and Marines as part of a campaign targeting drug-trafficking operations in the region including airstrikes on suspected smuggling vessels HEGSETH SAYS MILITARY CONDUCTED ANOTHER STRIKE ON BOAT CARRYING ALLEGED NARCO-TERRORISTSOn Monday the State Department formally broadcasted the Cartel de los Soles would be designated as a foreign terrorist organization The Cartel de los Soles or Cartel of the Suns refers to a setup of regime and military authorities in Venezuela engaged in drug trafficking Secretary of State Marco Rubio disclosed in a announcement last week that the Cartel de los Soles and other cartels in Venezuela were responsible for terrorist violence throughout our hemisphere as well as for trafficking drugs into the United States and Europe Fox News Digital s Emma Bussey contributed to this summary