Maduro sings, dances and threatens to 'smash the teeth' of the 'North American empire'

Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro warned that his country must “stand like warriors … ready to smash the teeth of the North American empire” Wednesday, a moment that coincided with the U.S. seizure of an oil tanker off Venezuela’s coast.Maduro delivered the remarks while holding the sword of Simón Bolívar at a rally where video showed him singing and dancing to a recording of American singer Bobby McFerrin’s late-80s hit, “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.” Maduro told supporters that Venezuelans must stay alert as tensions with Washington escalate.”In these times, things have to be different, but we must always stand like warriors, women and men,” he said in a translated interpretation. “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 Bolivar’s homeland.”President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that the U.S. had seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, sharply escalating tensions with Caracas. The tanker was taken for allegedly transporting sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran, according to Attorney General Pam Bondi.VENEZUELAN OPPOSITION LEADER MACHADO REAPPEARS IN NORWAY AFTER MONTHS IN HIDINGVenezuela’s Foreign Ministry condemned the move in an official statement, calling it “a brazen robbery and an act of international piracy” and accusing Trump of openly pursuing a plan to “take Venezuelan oil without paying anything in return.”The ministry said the action fits into what it described as a longstanding U.S. effort to plunder the country’s natural…

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