Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro on Wednesday urged his country to “stand like warriors … ready to smash the teeth of the North American empire,” remarks that coincided with the US seizure of an oil tanker off Venezuela’s coast.
Speaking at a rally while holding the sword of Simón Bolívar, Maduro was seen singing and dancing to a recording of Bobby McFerrin’s late-1980s hit, Don’t Worry, Be Happy. He called on Venezuelans to remain vigilant as tensions with Washington rise.
“In these times, things have to be different, but we must always stand like warriors, women and men,” Maduro said in a translated statement. “With one eye wide open — and the other one too — working, producing, building, keeping everything running, and ready to smash the teeth of the North American empire if necessary, from Bolívar’s homeland.”
President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that the United States had seized an oil tanker near Venezuela, escalating tensions between the two nations. According to Attorney General Pam Bondi, the vessel was carrying oil from Venezuela and Iran in violation of US sanctions.
Venezuela’s Foreign Ministry condemned the action as “a brazen robbery and an act of international piracy,” accusing Trump of attempting to “take Venezuelan oil without paying anything in return.” The ministry argued the move reflects a long-standing US effort to exploit the country’s natural resources, drawing parallels to the seizure of Citgo Petroleum Corp., which Caracas claims was obtained through “fraudulent judicial mechanisms.”
“The true reasons for the prolonged aggression against Venezuela have nothing to do with migration, drug trafficking, democracy, or human rights,” the statement read. “It has always been about our natural resources, our oil, our energy.” The ministry also suggested the tanker seizure was intended to distract from the failure of political efforts in Oslo to remove Maduro.
Caracas urged Venezuelans to “remain firm in defense of the homeland” and called on the international community to reject what it described as “vandalistic, illegal and unprecedented aggression.” The government vowed to defend the country’s sovereignty and energy resources, asserting that Venezuela will not allow any foreign power to take what belongs to its people by historical and constitutional right.
Tensions between the US and Venezuela have escalated following months of US maritime strikes aimed at vessels allegedly used by drug traffickers. Reuters has reported more than 80 deaths since September, along with increased security measures in affected coastal communities.
Last month, Maduro held Bolívar’s sword at a mass rally in Caracas, warning of “imperialist aggression” as Trump announced that the US would soon begin stopping suspected Venezuelan drug traffickers on land. Trump also said he had not ruled out sending US troops to Venezuela but left open the possibility of dialogue. “We may be having some conversations with Maduro, and we’ll see how that turns out. They would like to talk,” he told reporters.
Since early September, US strikes across the Caribbean and eastern Pacific have destroyed dozens of vessels linked to Venezuelan and Colombian criminal groups, according to officials.
Maduro used last month’s rally to stress that Venezuela is at a decisive moment, framing the confrontation with the US as both a national and historic struggle.